And the World Took a Step to the Left
by Same Coin
Summary: In one world Nakamura Mizuki was broken, her spirit died imprisoned by her villainous uncle and as a result Midoriya Izuku grew up friendless, alone, bullied, and with nobody who believed in him or his dreams. In another world she escaped, damaged but unbroken, and forced the story we know to take a step to the left.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: TW: This story includes mentions of severe child abuse. I will always avoid describing things in extensive detail but if this sort of thing is triggering for you please take care of yourself.

A couple quick warnings before we get started! 1) This is my first published fanfiction, I've written for years across a wide variety of fandoms but I've never had the guts to post before unlike my best friend Alex. 2) The paragraph that describes the abuse is blocked off with ***...*** so you can skip over it if you want 3) Written text is in italic to help make it clearer what is going on. 4) Crossposted on AO3 under the account TinyWritingBean. Take care of yourself and read the things you like! Fandom is supposed to be fun!

Aizawa sighed as he turned over the file the police officer had handed him when he entered the station. Blazoned across the front was a name he had only heard a few times, Nakamura Mizuki.

Aizawa knew Mizuki was still a little girl, after all she was his cousin's child, and he knew that his cousin wasn't old enough to have a child much older than ten. If he remembered the conversation he'd had with his father two years ago correctly, Mizuki was probably only seven or eight depending on when her birthday was, and yet the file in his hands was thick- painfully so.

On the few occasions Aizawa had had to handle a child's folder, usually a child who he rescued during his work as an underground hero, the file would almost always be only a page or two long depending on how much contact the child had with the authorities outside of school. This file was thicker than most criminal files he'd handled, meaning either the girl was a hardened criminal before age ten (a distinct and disturbing possibility given his father's extended family's history) or she had been victimized to the point of regularly coming into contact with the justice system and most of this was court documents (also a distinct and disturbing possibility given his father's extended family's history).

"Thank you for coming so quickly Eraserhead," an officer the hero was not particularly familiar with said with a nod towards the file. "We brought Mizuki-san and her service animal with us to the station so we could question her about what she saw today. But we needed a relative or guardian to be her before we could really talk to her about it."

Aizawa looked at the officer tiredly and then back at the file in his hands, if he was being called to do this that meant that the police were desperate. He was not a close relative; she was his father's niece's only child and he had had almost no direct contact with any of his father's family. He'd never even met the girl despite her living with his parents for a couple weeks while the courts decided whether or not her mother was a suitable guardian. "What happened?"

"Oh! Officer Akiyama didn't tell you when he called?" The blue haired officer looked taken aback before settling on a somber look, "I'm sorry to have to tell you this sir but your cousin, Nakamura Kasumi, was murdered sometime this afternoon, we don't know who did it, but it would have been sometime while her daughter was in school. Mizuki-san was the one who found her." The officer looked away awkwardly, it was clear to Aizawa that he was inexperienced and uncomfortable.

Unsure how to proceed after that admission the pro-hero opened the folder he was holding. The first page was exactly what he was expecting- a basic rundown of who this girl was. Every folder he'd ever opened had been like this.

"Right so while you look that over, I'll give you the summary of the other pages?" It was more of a question than a statement Aizawa noticed so he nodded indicating for the man to begin speaking, the police probably felt it was best to get a family member in there as quickly as possible so they could question the girl before she forgot anything.

_Name: Nakamura Mizuki_

_ Birthdate: 8 July 2160 (If Aizawa were any less used to masking his emotions he would have winced; this poor girl came home to her mother's corpse a week before her eighth birthday.)_

"So Mizuki-san is seven years old, and if her school records are anything to go off of, she is incredibly bright despite her horrific past. Like seriously this poor kid's life has been a shitshow since the beginning." Again unprofessional, but probably warranted knowing his father's family.

_Quirk: Clones- __able to produce solid copies of herself, when the clones are dispelled the original and all remaining clones gain the dispelled clones' memories. The clones can only be dispelled with lethal force or through the will of Mizuki unless they run out of energy. While she does not gain any physical injuries or muscle gain from the clones, she does feel any pain they experienced when they dispel and if more than one dispels in a short period Mizuki suffers from a massive migraine._ _Materials derived from living things, such as cotton clothing, multiply with her and if still touching the clone when they dispel will dispel with the clone, while materials such as metal or most rock will not multiply._

"When she was three years old she was removed from her mother's custody after she informed the quirk doctor about how 'okaasan's special medicine' sometimes caused her to leave her alone in the apartment for days at a time, and that occasionally she would hit her or scream at her for little mistakes when on said 'medicine'." The officer actually used air quotes on the word medicine.

"She was placed in her uncle's custody since nobody knows which of her mother's clients was her father. This was a mistake." Aizawa almost snorted at that, he could have told them that when he was nine years old, after having meet Nakamura Hiroshi for the first and only time. The man was volatile, abusive towards his sister, creepy, and gave off incredibly bad vibes.

_Mother: Nakamura Kasumi, former prostitute, former drug addict, former gang member, small business owner- seamstress, quirk: quick recall, can quickly remember images of anything she had ever seen status: deceased 1 July 2168_

_ Father: unknown_

_Previous Guardians: Nakamura Hiroshi- status: alive, serving life sentence, Aizawa Shouhei- status: deceased 17 April 2167, Aizawa Yuena- status: deceased 2 April 2167 _

***"Nakamura Hiroshi forced her to use her quirk every night so that he could sell the clone, and then later clones, to men that," the man paused and looked pained, "child molesters, violent child molesters who enjoyed taking advantage of how solid the clones were while also knowing they would disappear without a trace. They could do anything they wanted until the clone died, sometimes after hours of torture. The trial notes in that folder go into some pretty explicit detail, uhhh…"***

There was another long pause from the detective and Aizawa flipped the page over finding her school information, height, weight, and a rundown of her vaccination record. The next page was a summarized medical history, where two things truly stood out to the pro-hero- _"sight loss and stunted growth consistent with severe childhood malnutrition"._ The police kept tabs on the girl, which made sense considering how much she had been through. The pages after the medical records were trial transcripts so he closed the file as he waited for the man to finish, knowing from experience reading everything left would take significantly longer.

"I'll be honest more than one officer had to leave the room to either cry or throw up when she was questioned after being rescued. So, uh, Mizuki managed to get one of her clones out of the building she and seven other children were being held in, and the clone ran into the pro-hero Spectacular Owl," that was a name Aizawa recognized despite having never met the hero personally. She was an older hero that been crushed by falling debris while trying to assist in a rescue operation three months ago. "Spectacular Owl along with some back up managed to rescue the real Mizuki, the other children, and hold Hiroshi and most of his gang until the police could arrive to arrest them. Most of the rest of the file is trial transcripts for all of the cases her testimony has been used in or case notes of potential suspects we are observing based on her testimony."

The officer began to rush through the rest of what he wanted to say, "After spending about two weeks with your parents, her mother was deemed a worthy guardian- having left her previous life and become a seamstress. The girl was returned to her mother and afterward besides appearing at trials to give testimony she's lived a fairly uneventful life until she returned home from school today and found her mother's dismembered corpse."

And with those last few words Aizawa gave into the impulse to wince in sympathy for the poor kid. That was bad, and the poor girl had to be distraught. For a moment he considered calling his husband, Hizashi was better with kids than he was- and definitely better at emotions- but he discarded the idea as quickly as it popped up. Aizawa was always better at staying calm in rough situations, and calm was probably what the poor kid needed in that moment. Plus, Hizashi was trying to finish making his written exam for the Yuuei students and he only had a few days left to do it.

"So, uh, Mizuki-san is down the hall in Detective Iwata's office, if you could… if you could go join her that'd be great." The officer looked away as the pro-hero gave him an unimpressed look.

"Do you want the file back before I go?" Aizawa held the folder out to the blue-haired man.

"Shit! Yes, I need that back," the man got quieter as he took the folder back, but the pro-hero still heard the officer cursing at himself for his forgetfulness as he walked towards the Detective's office.

Author's note: I made some small edits on 2/24/2020. These changes were to help make things easier to read and follow- small grammatical things, two added phrases to help clear something up as a friend told me it was a little confusing, italicizing writing, and making it clear where the triggering content begins and ends.


	2. Chapter 2

A couple of quick notes: 1) This chapter does include descriptions of a crime scene that may be distressing to some readers. If that is something you don't want to read skip the section marked off with *** at the beginning and end. This is the only time I will describe what she saw in detail and whenever it comes up again I will be significantly more vague. I tried to avoid using to much detail, but use your best judgement. 2) Things will get better for Mizuki and everyone else in the near future, the story will get lighter soon. 3) Do what you need to do to take care of yourselves!

Aizawa had worked with Detective Iwata before, she was an older woman with sharp features and grey hair who took pride in her work as a police officer. She was incredibly good at her job, but she probably wasn't the best person to be working with what had to be a severely traumatized child given that her specialty was criminal interrogation. The pro-hero stopped outside the door to her office and went to knock when he heard the detective speak, sounding exacerbated, "Please stop crying. Please, please stop crying Mizuki-chan. I promise, you'll be out of here sooner if you stop crying. Just," he knocked quickly, cutting off whatever the woman was going to add knowing it would not be good for the poor kid.

"Aizawa-san! Come in!" The detective sounded relieved.

Detective Iwata sat behind her desk looking just as relived to see him as she had sounded when she'd called him in, while in front of her sat a tiny girl with black hair pulled back into two braids. She was holding a large orange and white cat that was wearing a red vest. While the cat was staring angrily at the woman the child was silently shaking.

"Mizuki-chan, your cousin Aizawa-san is here, he's your great-uncle Aizawa Shouhei's son! You remember your great-uncle, right?" The bespectacled girl didn't respond to the woman, but she turned to look at the black-haired man. Her glasses were wet with tears, as was the rest of her face, her eyes were bloodshot, and she looked as if she'd been crying for quite a while. But there was no mistaking it, this girl was the almost spitting image of pictures he had seen of his father as a kid. They had the same roundish faces, noses, black hair, brown eyes, pale skin, and smattering of freckles across their noses and cheeks. If you cut her hair and took off her glasses they would have passed for twins.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind the pro-hero moved to grab the box of tissues sitting on the detective's desk and handed them to the girl before sitting in the empty chair besides her.

"Thank you, sir," she mumbled shakily.

"Don't worry about it," he tried to send her a reassuring look, "do you want some water?"

"Yes please." Detective Iwata sighed deeply, as if annoyed, but grabbed a bottle of water from under her desk and handed it to the girl. She struggled for a few moments trying to get it open before handing it to the man sitting next to her. He opened it carefully and reminded her to drink it slowly.

The detective let her drink half of the bottle before speaking again, "I'm going to ask you some questions about what you saw when you got home from school now that he's here."

The seven-year-old audibly swallowed before shakily nodding. "Okay Momo-chan, can you," she choked on her words for a moment before taking a deep breath and continuing, "can you use your quirk now?" Aizawa looked at the pair and watched as the cat raised a paw and placed it on the girl's cheek. A faint purple light radiated from the paw and the girl abruptly stopped shaking and took another deep breath seeming much more composed than she had even a few seconds earlier.

Aizawa was shocked for a moment, and it took a lot of self-control to prevent himself from flinching. He knew these types of service animals, almost every pro-hero did. The "calming cats" were cats with a powerful quirk, not only were they smarter than the average cat, they could also release a chemical from their paws that helped temporarily calm down anyone whose skin they touched.

Despite an intensive effort to breed the cats only one or two from each litter would have the quirk, so, they were expensive and in high demand amongst heroes with PTSD. Heroes that often worked in rescue operations also loved them, as they were a great resource to help keep civilians from panicking. There was no way on Earth his cousin had made enough money to buy one, so someone must have given her this cat because of her experiences with her uncle. The officer earlier hadn't been kidding when he'd said that her life had been a shitshow.

The detective shook Aizawa from his thoughts by asking her first question. "What happened today Mizuki-chan?" the woman had a recording device on her desk and a note pad sitting in front of her.

"Today was the last day of school before summer vacation. My mom was supposed to pick me up after the judo-club meeting Izuku and I had after school and we were going to get ice cream to celebrate the fact that I was the top student this semester."

"Who is Izuku?"

"Midoriya Izuku is my best friend, and my next-door neighbor. We train together so we can be heroes someday." Aizawa made a mental note to ask her what type of training they were doing so he could make sure they weren't hurting themselves accidentally. Seven going on eight was incredibly young to be doing any sort of intensive training.

"Okay, continue please."

"While I was changing out of my school cloths and into my judo gear, I got a text from my mom," the girl stopped to pull out her phone, a small model with limited capabilities that was popular with parents that wanted their kid to have something in case of a villain attack or emergency, "It says: 'Mizu-chan I have to work later than I thought altering this dress, please come home when you're done'. I don't think she sent it; Mom never calls me Mizu-chan."

The detective nodded and the girl continued, "I changed back into my school uniform after the club meeting finished, and then I ran home with Momo-chan. When we got to our apartment complex Momo-chan seemed nervous, which… which made me really nervous because Momo-chan is almost always calm. So, I picked her up, because carrying her always makes me feel better, and walked up the stairs to our apartment. The door was unlocked when I got there, which made me even more nervous. Mom never leaves the door unlocked."

The girl was turning white as she remembered what happened next so Aizawa moved one of his hands so that it was face up and within her reach. The girl grabbed it with her much smaller hand and squeezed the three fingers she managed to get her hand around (significantly harder than Aizawa had expected her to honestly). "I opened the door," Mizuki stuttering became much more pronounced at this point, ***"I opened the door and saw Mom's head looking at me from the table, with her torso on the floor in front of it. I didn't see her arms or legs.*** I ran out of the apartment as quickly as I could, I wasn't sure if the person who killed her was still there or not. I think I closed the door behind me? I'm not sure. I ran." The purple light was glowing brighter and she took another deep breath while loosening her grip on his fingers. "I threw up in the bushes outside the apartment before I called 110. I'm really really sorry for the mess. I didn't mean to cause any trouble." The little girl looked embarrassed as she bit her lower lip.

"Hey, look at me for a second Mizuki-chan," Aizawa waited for the girl to look at him before continuing "that isn't a problem, I promise, and it isn't something you need to be embarrassed about. You saw something no one should ever have to see and throwing up is a natural reaction to that. Okay?" The girl looked relieved and nodded.

"Was the corpse wearing any cloths when you saw it?" the detective cut in. Aizawa glared at her for a moment trying to silently tell the detective to back off for a few moments while the seven-year-old collected herself, but he was ignored.

"No," the voice was a whisper and any relief she had a few moments earlier was gone. Her face was pale, the light was even brighter, and she looked like she might throw up again. The pro-hero found himself increasingly worried about the fact that she was being exposed to higher doses of the calming chemical. And he was worried about the fact that the chemical was becoming less effective as she was getting more distressed by the questions being asked of her.

The detective, oblivious, continued pressing, "Where exactly were they in the apartment, I want to make sure no one moved anything between when you left and when we got there."

Mizuki stared blankly at the cat for a little while before speaking, unable to move or say anything. She gave the detective the answer she was looking for, but she looked exhausted from the effort afterwards.

"Is there anyone you can think of who might have done this Mizuki-chan?"

The girl bit her lip again, almost drawing blood, and Aizawa was about to ask Detective Iwata to postpone her questioning until tomorrow morning when she responded "I um… I don't, I don't know Detective Iwata. Um… I know my mom used to be into some bad things, when I was little, so maybe someone from back then? Or maybe one of my uncle's old associates? If any of them aren't in prison maybe them. But two years, is, is, is… it seems like a long time for them to wait to do something. But uh… Mom's been kinda weird lately so it might be related to that?"

"Weird how?"

The tiny girl looked slightly more comfortable with this line of questioning, "Mom lets me practice my quirk at home, which means I usually have a clone or two studying at home while I'm at school or doing hero training with Izuku. Mom has always made me take a day or two off each week though, she says I need to 'give my brain a rest'. Lately, she's been a lot more insis-insis-insistent on which days those are. She even forcefully dispelled one of my clones last week, even though she didn't tell me it was a rest day."

Aizawa was pissed when he heard that, remembering what her file had said about how her clones were dispelled and that the real girl would feel the pain they experienced. But he was a professional and kept any hint of his anger off of his face so as to avoid scaring the girl holding his hand.

"On my rest days now when I come back to the apartment it smells like," she paused and then tried again "it smells like… it smells like," her voice drops to a whisper and she looks down at the cat "it smells like sex," her nose wrinkles in disgust. The pro-hero had never hated anyone more than he hated his cousins in that moment, a seven-year-old should not be able to identify that smell. A seven-year-old shouldn't know what sex is yet!

"I don't know if she has a boyfriend she brings around the house and doesn't want me to know about, or if she's gone back to her old job part time, or if something else is going on though…" She pauses for a moment while the adults process what she said before starting again, "she also stole the all the money I've been saving back at the beginning of June claiming I owed her rent for letting me live with her."

Aizawa tried to say something to the girl about how none of that was alright but the detective spoke quickly, "Have you noticed anything else strange lately?" Detective Iwata pressed.

The girl looked lost in thought for a few moments before responding, "well, I'm not sure if it's important but last year around this time there were a whole bunch of wedding dresses, this year there aren't nearly as many. I don't think business has been going well recently, but I don't know why."

"Thank you so much for your help Mizuki-chan, we will do everything in our power to make sure whoever did this can never hurt anyone else ever again okay?"

"Alright," the purple light was fading quickly, and the girl's grip tightened a little again. "What happens to me now?" She looked between the detective and the pro-hero while using her free hand to rub a spot right behind the cat's ears, as Momo had settled back into her lap once it had finished using its quirk.

Aizawa looked at the detective and silently prayed that she had actually thought that far ahead, but somehow knew that wouldn't be the case. He knew there was a reason this particular detective rarely worked on cases where children were involved. She sucked with children. She sucked at dealing with people trying to deal with trauma and damn if he wasn't going to do everything in his power to make sure she didn't question another kid unless she got some extensive training. Honestly, the woman had no sense and had pushed the girl too quickly. Aizawa was positive that the only reason Mizuki hadn't had a break down was because of the cat.

Detective Iwata glanced between him and the girl before sighing. "Well… Aizawa-san is your closest relative, and he's a pro-hero, so he'd be the first choice to take you in. After all he can keep you safe! But if he can't take you, we will find a nice family for you!" the voice was full of false cheer and the girl looked at her unimpressed.

"You have no idea what happens to me next do you Detective?" the voice was tired, more tired than any kid should sound, and Aizawa found himself reaching into his pocket for his phone. He knew somewhere in his gut that tonight would end with this girl sleeping in their guest bedroom, but he wasn't going to make that kind of decision without talking to his husband even if he knew what his husband would say. Also, in all honestly the pro-hero needed a minute to collect himself, he was angry- honestly, he had blown past angry quite some time ago, but an angry Aizawa was not what this kid needed.

"I need to make a quick phone call Mizuki-chan," he tried his best to sound reassuring, "I'll be back soon and then we can talk about what happens next."

"Okay Aizawa-san," she let go of his hand and held the incredibly patient cat in a loose hug, looking lost, afraid, vaguely ill, and exhausted all at the same time. When he looked back at her as he closed the door, he could almost swear that he could hear her thinking that he wasn't going to come back.

Author's note: I made some small edits on 2/24/2020. These changes were to help make things easier to read and follow- nothing has changed plot wise.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey everybody, thank you for reading so far! From here on out I am going to be aiming for a Monday release schedule with maybe an extra bonus chapter here or there if I start getting to far ahead of what I have posted. I finished writing chapter seven last night so unless I break schedule I have a pretty good reserve!

Aizawa walked to the bathroom in the station and the moment the door was closed and locked behind him he began pacing angrily, silently cursing at whatever god was in charge of Mizuki's fate. She was seven and she'd spent almost her entire life being abused, starved, and she had seen her mother's dismembered corpse. He stopped pacing and placed his hands on the sides of the sink.

'Okay, time to calm down and figure out what happens next because Detective Iwata isn't going to do it. Hizashi and I are twenty-three, we both work multiple jobs between teaching and pro-hero work, and Hizashi has that radio show of his. But we tend to patrol at different times and once the fall semester starts, she'll be on the same school schedule as us even if her classes ended a week earlier than Yuuei's. We have money for babysitters if we ever need one, and god knows Hizashi makes enough as a spotlight hero that we can afford to raise a kid. Plus, the kid deserves some stability, and while we may not be the best people in the world to raise her it's more stable than throwing her to the foster care system and hoping for the best.' He nodded to himself- time to convince Hizashi, not that convincing him would be that difficult. Hizashi loved kids, he wanted kids, he was brilliant and kind. Shouta knew the moment Hizashi knew about Mizuki he'd be all over the idea of adopting her.

Aizawa let go of the sink, pulled out his phone, and selected his husband's number from his favorited contacts. Experience with his husband's quirk led him to hold the phone as far away from his ear as he could while he waited for the blond man to pick up.

"SHOUTA! ARE YOU OKAY? YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HOME TONIGHT!" The volume was deafening even from so far away and Aizawa felt a pang of guilt, he probably should have let his husband know what was going on through text at some point.

"I'm fine Zashi, promise. There's just been a situation at the Third Precinct Police Station that I've had to come help with. We might actually have a bit of a problem."

"Need any back up?"

"Not in the traditional sense," Aizawa tried to figure out how to word things. "They didn't need Eraserhead tonight, they needed Aizawa Shouta. My cousin was murdered earlier today apparently, and they needed a family member here so they could question the woman's seven-year-old daughter about what she saw and any possible suspects."

"Please tell me they didn't have Detective Iwata question her." The silence lingered for a few moments before Hizashi spoke again, "They did, didn't they? The woman is brilliant but," he trailed off, "is the kid okay?"

"She's shaken up, but physically she's fine."

"That's a relief!" A brief pause, "So what's next for the little listener?"

"The police want us to take her, at least temporarily. She doesn't have any family worth mentioning left besides us, and I would like to bring her home, the kid deserves some stability. But this isn't a choice I can or would want to make without you."

"Well then, I guess our plans to eventually adopt a kid got pushed forward!" Well that was even easier than Aizawa expected it to be, "The circumstances suck, but we can always provide her a home if she wants to live with us." He chattered on for a few more seconds before Aizawa cut him off.

"There's some things you should know before I bring her back Zashi, if I'm allowed to bring her back that is." His husband quieted down immediately so he continued, "Nakamura Mizuki, my cousin's daughter, has been abused, severely, for most of her life. She isn't showing all of the normal symptoms of that right now but, well that might the shock affecting her as she was the one to find her mother's dismembered corpse."

Aizawa could hear his husband flinch in sympathy, "I don't have all the details, but I know she was part of a group of children rescued from a child sex trafficking ring by Spectacular Owl about two years ago. The leaders of the ring are in prison from what I can tell though," which is good because Aizawa had never wanted to kill anyone more than he had wanted to kill his cousin for leading that ring.

"Her house is an active crime scene right now, so I doubt the police will let us retrieve any of her things. Right now, she only has her school stuff and her service animal. And gods Zashi, she has one of the 'calming cats', the stuff she's been through…"

"God," he sounded like he was going to go kill the men responsible for the things that had happened to Mizuki, and then with a deep breath he swallowed all of that anger and replaced it with conviction, "Okay, none of that changes what I said before. We are going to give the little listener the best home ever." Both men were silent for a moment before Hizashi continued, "I'm assuming she doesn't have Saturday classes like Yuuei does since she's in elementary school."

"Yes. Today was her last day of school before break so we're going to have to figure out the next two weeks."

"I'm going to call Principal Nezu to inform him of what is going on since we're either going to have to bring her with us or one of us will need to stay home tomorrow. We'll figure out next week as soon as we can. After I talk to him, I'll make some dinner for the three of us since it's almost seven. Collect Mizuki-chan, text me when you're out of the station, then stop and grab a change of clothes for her from whatever open store you can find. We'll buy more stuff for her tomorrow." It was moments like this that reminded his why Present Mic was such a popular pro-hero, he was a good man who despite being a bit ridiculous at times, and far to loud all the time, had a good head on his shoulders when necessary.

"That sounds like a plan Hizashi."

"Love you Shou."

"Love you too Zashi." They hung up and Aizawa walked back to the detective's office feeling calmer than he left it. He couldn't change what Mizuki had gone through, nobody could. But, he could help her get through it, he could provide her with a home and a family that actually took care of her (he could not shake the sinking feeling in his gut that even after she had been cleared his cousin had been a less than ideal guardian), and he could help make things better going forward.

He knocked on the detective's door for the second time that evening and politely waited for a response before entering. Mizuki looked relieved that he had returned, even if that relief was mixed with all of the same emotions she had been feeling when he had gotten up to call his husband.

"Detective Iwata, my husband and I would be happy to take Mizuki-chan home with us if she would like to stay with us," he said as he slid back into the chair next to Mizuki.

"Oh, thank the gods! That makes my life so much easier," Detective Iwata immediately blurted out.

Aizawa ignored the outburst and looked at the black-haired girl besides him, "Would you be alright with that Mizuki-chan?"

"Will someone… will someone actually check up on me this time to make sure you aren't like uncle?" the voice was shaky and quiet and Aizawa was mentally raging at the incompetency of Child Protective Services- they were supposed to check in at least once a month for the first year after any placement, usually a bit more often than that in the beginning.

Calmly, much more calmly than he thought possible as his chest hurt from thinking of how many times this kid had been failed, he responded "Of course Mizuki-chan."

"Okay." Paperwork was signed quickly, giving Aizawa temporary custody of the child and the police full autonomy in their investigation at the apartment (with a vague promise of allowing Mizuki to collect things from the apartment in a couple of days) and they were out of the station by seven.

Author's note: I made some small edits on 2/24/2020. These changes were to help make things easier to read and follow- nothing has changed plot wise.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: Thank you all for your support so far! I edited chapters 1-3 based on some feedback I received, but nothing substantive has changed. The changes are just for clarity, and to fix some spelling and grammar errors I found after posting.

Aizawa knew that one mile is not far when you are a pro-hero, it's an easy five-minute run. One mile when you are a pro-hero with an exhausted child, a backpack that you're pretty sure literally weighs more than said child, and a twelve-pound cat, is… a bit trickier. Especially when that mile is only a mile because the pro-hero in question isyou are hoping on roof tops and not taking the actual roads.

Add in the necessity of stopping somewhere to pick up some clothes and there is no way that he wasyou are going to be able to run home in five minutes. Realizing all of that, Aizawa groaned knowing they'd have to take the subway to get to a station a little closer to the apartment he and his husband shared with their two cats. He preferred to avoid the subway as much as possible, but he wasn't going to endanger Mizuki by taking the route he'd used to get to the station just to save time and make himself more comfortable.

"Mizuki-chan do you want me to carry your backpack for you? You look tired." Rule four of the abused child protocols- give the child choices whenever possible, it helps build trust and give the child a sense of control.

"Yes, please Aizawa-san." Her voice betrayed her exhaustion and he quickly found he was right: the backpack did weigh around forty pounds, the same weight he estimated Mizuki to be.

As they left the office Aizawa sent the promised text to Hizashi and then looked up the nearest open clothing store. As the office was downtown it didn't take long for him to find a clothing store, and the subway station was only a block away from that. He wasn't going to have to make Mizuki walk to far.

"We're going to pick you up some clothes for tomorrow Mizuki at that store over there, and then we'll head home and get dinner with my husband." Rule six of the abused child protocols- whenever possible inform the child as to what is going to happen.

"Okay, Aizawa-san," the child was rubbing her hands together in circles and staring down at the sidewalk as they walked side by side. Once in the store she let him guide her to the children's section. After some coaxing, she grabbed a light pink tee shirt with a white cartoon cat face on the front and a dark brown skort (a pair of shorts that looked like a skirt, which was not a thing Aizawa knew existed but she found it and seemed to liked it so all's well that ends well he supposed). The pair stopped to grab a few other necessities like socks and then pushed their way towards the cash register.

"Aizawa-san am I a bad person?"

That was, unexpected. He stopped their trek towards the overworked teenager at the register so that he could talk to her undisturbed, "Why would you think that?" The pro-hero knew he wouldn't be able to address what was bothering her without knowing what it was first.

"Mom just died, but I don't feel anything. I know I'm supposed to be sad, but I just feel tired and, and," she made a noise of frustration, like she couldn't find the word she was looking for.

"Numb?"

"Yes that. I don't feel sad like I'm supposed to and that makes me a bad person." Her voice sounded more certain than he had heard it at any point that evening.

Aizawa made a point of getting down on her level so he could look the girl in the eyes, "Not feeling sad all the time when you're grieving doesn't make you a bad person Mizuki-chan," he said as gently as he could. "When someone we care about dies, we grieve for them, but everyone experiences grief differently, and we can feel differently because of grief at times. You might feel sad, angry, scared, tired, numb, shocked, or a combination of things and that's okay. That's normal and it doesn't make you a bad person. And you won't be a bad person when you start to feel happy again either."

The little girl looked down at the floor for a minute before looking at him again "Are you sure?"

"Positive." She nodded in response and then started walking towards the cash register, Aizawa got up from his crouching position and followed her quickly.

"Aizawa-san I have some money in my backpack, I can pay for the clothes if you give it back to me for a minute."

"You don't have to pay for your own clothes Mizuki-chan, you're seven, I'm an adult whose job it is to take care of you."

"Oh, you're more like Auntie Inko then Mom then. Okay," that was a concerning sentence, but he was glad that she stopped trying to reach for her backpack and let him pay for the clothes without any more arguments. Momo jumped into Mizuki's arms as they approached the subway station and Aizawa led them towards their train. Thankfully, when they got on their train, it was not as crowded as he had feared. Mizuki and Momo had quickly claimed one of the open seats while Aizawa stood next to them, ready to help them off the train when they got to their station.

The ride was comfortably quiet, but once they were on the empty street Aizawa spoke up again, "My husband and I are both pro-heroes and teachers at Yuuei. Depending on how you feel tomorrow you can either come with us to work or I'll stay home with you alright?" The girl nodded tiredly. About a minute later they reached the apartment building and the pro-hero held the door open for the girl and her cat. Then he directed them towards the elevator.

"What floor do we need Aizawa-san?"

"Three," usually he'd take the stairs, but Mizuki was obviously tired and taking the elevator for once wouldn't hurt. The girl hit the button quickly and the elevator started moving "Mizuki-chan, just so you know my husband's hero name is Present Mic, and he can be really loud sometimes. His quirk makes his voice very loud and sometimes if he gets excited, he forgets to turn down the volume. If he gets to be too loud or annoying you can tell him to be quieter, he won't be upset. Okay?"

The tiny girl nodded but looked away, he privately wondered how long it'd take her to get comfortable enough or annoyed enough to follow his advice.

"Alright so we're going to apartment 308 which is right over there," he pointed to the apartment at the end of the hall and Mizuki walked towards it almost mechanically.

Quickly unlocking the door, the smell of Miso soup and steamed rice hit him as soon as he walked in. "Taidama!"

"Okaerinasai!" Aizawa could see the ghost of a smile on Mizuki's face when she heard Hizashi respond to his greeting before her face dropped and she just looked tired again. Hizashi turned the corner into the living area and motioned for them to follow him, "Hey Mizuki-chan, my name is Yamada Hizashi and I just finished making dinner! Come on! You look hungry."

"It's nice to meet you Yamada-san," the response was quiet but Hizashi heard it.

"It's great to meet you too little listener!" She looked up at him through her bangs.

"How did you know I listened to you show?"

"Wait you do!?" He prattled on about the radio station, guests he had had on, and anything else that came to mind through dinner, filling the air with happy chatter. Glancing at Mizuki, both men realized that she seemed a million miles away after the first few minutes.

"Alright little listener, you look tired. Why don't we go find you a tee shirt you can sleep in tonight and a spare toothbrush so you can head to bed?" She nodded and Aizawa started working on cleaning the mess his husband had made in their kitchen. A few minutes later, Aizawa was drying the bowl that went in the rice cooker when he heard Hizashi cooing at Mizuki about how cute she looked and how the cats both loved her already. He put the bowl down and went out into the living room to see Mizuki absolutely drowning in one of Mic's tee-shirts. He hadn't realized just how small she was until he realized that the tee-shirt was only a few inches off the floor.

"What are the cats' names?" She asked as she reached down to pet the one that had decided to glue itself to her leg.

"The all black one on the couch is Kuro- because someone," he glared at Hizashi who looked around pretending to be confused, "is super original with their names. Which is why he isn't allowed to name anything anymore."

"Hey! Are you talking about me!?" Hizashi feigned shock and Mizuki actually giggled a little bit.

"Kuro can be a bit of a brat, and he likes to try and sit on or in everything, especially Daiki the tuxedo cat who is currently trying to be your new best friend." The girl giggled a little more and Aizawa counted it as a victory. "Did Hizashi show you your room yet?"

She shook her head no and went to pick up her obscenely heavy looking brown backpack. "How about I carry that for you Mizuki-chan? You can carry your new clothes if you want?"

"Okay Aizawa-san," she followed him into a hallway with four doors.

He points to the first door on the left and says, "This one is a closet where we store a bunch of towels and cleaning supplies," he points to one across the hall, "this one is the bathroom, but you probably knew that already." She nods in response; she had gotten ready for bed in there after all. "This one next to the bathroom is your room while the one next to the closet is Hizashi and my's room. Don't hesitate to get us if you need anything." He pushes the door to her room open and inside was a small desk and a futon. The room was meant as a guest bedroom, but it was almost never used so it was almost bare.

"We're going to get some things for your room tomorrow, and once we get the all clear, we'll get the stuff from your old bedroom and move it in here."

"You don't need to get me anything! You've already done so much for me and I can't pay you back!" Tears were in her eyes and he squatted down to her level again. Rule eight of the abused child protocols- when the child is distressed getting down on their level makes them feel safer and makes you look less threatening to them.

"Hey look at me for a second Mizuki," she did so just as Momo entered the room and jumped onto the futon, "I know your mom didn't like to buy you things," she flinched a little bit and he filed that away for later, "but Hizashi and I make plenty of money, we are teachers and pro-heroes, plus we are adults it's our job to take care of you because you a child in our care okay? Sometimes taking care of someone means buying things for them- like when you buy cat food for Momo-chan." She bit her lip but nodded. "This is important. You don't have to pay us back in any way. Okay?" Rule two of the abused child protocols- make sure the child understands they are safe and cared for, they deserve to be safe and cared for, and they don't need to do anything to deserve to be safe and cared for.

She stared at him contemplatively for a minute before slowly nodding. "Okay Aizawa-san," she said before immediately yawning.

"Would you like me to find you a blanket and some pillows so you can head to bed?"

"Yes please."


	5. Chapter 5

Mizuki was no stranger to nightmares, they had haunted her at night for years, though they had gradually been receding. What was once a nightly occurrence now would only happen two or three nights a week. None of that was particularly comforting to Mizuki as she kneeled over the toilet, throwing up everything she had eaten for dinner. Later, whenever she thought back on that night, she'd be fairly impressed that she had managed to get five hours of sleep before waking up from that hellish nightmare, but in that moment all she could think about was what she had seen. If she kept her eyes opened and focused, she could see what was in front of her. But, every time she closed her eyes, even just for a moment, she'd see it- the body, the eyes staring at her glossy and unseeing in death and smell of blood would come rushing back to her.

She wasn't sure when in Aizawa had come into the bathroom. She wasn't sure when he had sat down on the floor with her. She wasn't sure when he had started rubbing slow circles into her back. She wasn't even sure what he was talking about in soft soothing tones, but she was thankful for his presence when her mind finally registered it.

"Aizawa-san," her voice was hoarse and painful to use, she could barely hear it.

"You're alright Mizuki-chan, you're alright" he reached over her to flush the toilet as she sat back onto her feet knowing there was nothing left in her stomach. "Would you like some water?"

"Yes please."

"I'm going to pick you up and we'll go to the kitchen together, alright?" She nodded, throat burning too much to give a better reply. In the kitchen, she took the water and washed the horrible taste out of her mouth. "Do you want to talk about it?" She shook her head no quickly, talking about it was the last thing she wanted. "What would you like to do? I could go get something to distract you, we could watch TV for a few minutes, you could come sleep with Hizashi and I, or you could go back to sleep in your room?"

She spent a minute thinking about it, she was tired, but not in a way that would let her sleep, especially with the images running through her head. "Auntie Inko makes tea and lets me work on some worksheets when I have a nightmare at her house. Could we do that?"

"I'll go grab your backpack and get started on the tea." He left the kitchen and came back quickly with her brown backpack and Momo, who jumped onto her lap as she sat at the kitchen table.

"Momo-chan woke me up, she really cares about you a lot you know."

"I know, Momo-chan is the best." Mizuki, trying to avoid disturbing the cat on her lap, reached down and pulled out a red folder her math teacher had given her with the words "Nakamura's Summer Math Homework" written on it in thick black marker. She pulled out the six second-grade worksheets and started breezing through them as she listened to Aizawa fiddle around in the kitchen.

Finishing the first sheet had taken less than three minutes, most of that time was spent on writing the answers as the questions were extremely easy- adding or subtracting single-digit numbers to or from double-digit numbers. She was well onto the third worksheet when Aizawa put a mug of chamomile tea in front of her. "Thank you, Aizawa-san," her smile was shaky and didn't quite reach her eyes. "You don't have to stay up with me, I'll try to go back to sleep at 3," she said while pointing to the clock hanging over the entryway.

Aizawa looked at the clock, realizing for the first time that Momo must have waken him up at about 2:15 since it was 2:30. Shaking his head he slid into the chair across from Mizuki. "I'm not going to be able to sleep for a while anyway. Do you want me to check your homework when you finish a page? I am a teacher after all."

"If you want to Aizawa-san, but you don't have to!"

"My mom used to check my summer homework for me when I was your age." He said simply as he grabbed the first worksheet she had finished and started looking over it. His hands itched for a cup of coffee; it was honestly too early to be awake without the caffeine. He did not give in to the urge to start the coffee maker though, knowing that Hizashi would yell at him in the morning if he didn't at least try to go back to sleep after he got Mizuki to sleep again.

Ten minutes passed before she slid the sixth worksheet in his direction, Shouta took the sixth page and placed it on the small pile of pages he hadn't gotten to yet. Watching her as she flew through the homework made the pro-hero remember what the blue-haired police officer had told him the day before "if her school records are anything to go off of, she is incredibly bright despite her horrific past."

"Mizuki-chan, do you like school?" She was already pulling out more worksheets from the red folder.

"Kinda? I love learning! I love spending time with Izuku, and the Judo club after school is super fun! But the classes are really boring when we run out of upper-level stuff to work on and our classmates are all really mean. Our teachers want to move Izuku and I up a couple of grades so we'd be less bored but the principal says that it'd be bad for our social development, so we're stuck going really slow."

"Upper-level work?" He peeked at what she was working on, a page of multiplication problems.

"Yeah, our teachers realized that Izuku and I finish things super-fast so last year, after we showed our teacher that we had finished all of the workbook problems by the second week of school, they started giving us work meant for students older than we are. Our teachers promised if we finished all the work they assigned us over the break and got good grades on it, they'd get us started with high school level work. Which I am super excited about!"

Pushing down the panicked realization that Principal Nezu would immediately pick up on this kid's intelligence and, gods help them, probably harness it to take over the world he nodded along, "That is exciting. We'll need to talk to your school about making sure you're being challenged enough."

"Izuku pointed out that it probably works in our favor that the principal won't let us skip any grades. We both want to be heroes when we grow up, and the best way to do that is to go to a hero high school. We wouldn't pass any of the schools' practical exams right now. We're too young to compete physically with teenagers." Her voice was strangely monotone as she slid him another sheet and started the next.

"Some hero schools like Yuuei make exceptions and allow students with intelligence quirks to take college classes in the morning and attend Yuuei's hero classes in the afternoon. It'd be illogical not to."

"Neither of us has intelligence quirks though?" He hummed in response before typing a reminder into his phone to check into what could be done for the kids. If they were starting high school level work after the first semester of second grade, they were going to finish their high school education before they hit nine years old. They might even finish high school before they even made it to third grade if their pace continued.

"If your teachers are trying to prepare you for high school level work why are you doing second and third-grade work right now?"

Another sheet full of multiplication problems was added to his stack, "I think they want to make sure we have a solid understanding of the basics given how fast we are going. There are thirty-two pages of math problems in here," she held up the folder, "the first six were what was given to the entire class, and the rest is a mix of third through ninth grade work. Three pages apiece for third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade, then four pages of seventh and eighth-grade math, and six pages of ninth grade math. The rest of the folders are kinda similar except there are fewer Japanese worksheets for the higher levels and more stories with essay prompts. I think, I mean it'd make sense if it was that way. I haven't actually had a chance to look through them all yet."

She put down her pencil for a moment and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Izuku and I were planning on finishing all of the work separately and then going over it together a week before school started up again."

The pro-hero looked up at the clock, 2:50, "I'm sure you'll still be able to see Izuku and do that." She smiled again and it finally reached her eyes. "So, are you feeling any better Mizuki-chan?"

The girl nodded but continued working on the final third-grade worksheet, "I tend to do math whenever I'm feeling really bad, I think it's calming, though Bakugou-san told me I was a freak of nature when I said that in class one time," she continued without even acknowledging what the Bakugou kid had said was bad. "Math has rules that don't really change which is comforting when things are chaotic, and at higher levels, it's like figuring out a puzzle which is super satisfying." When she finished saying that she slid the paper over to his stack and drank the final bit of tea at the bottom of the mug. "I should probably try to go back to sleep for a little while," she looked tired and scared at the same time.

"Do you want me to sit with you until you fall asleep?"

"Yes please." He watched as the girl slid all of the work, including the three worksheets he hadn't finished looking over into her red folder and put it back into the bag on the floor. "Time to go back to bed Momo-chan," the cat blinked awake before jumping off the girl and stretching on the floor. The pro-hero grabbed her bag before she could, worried she'd hurt her back trying to carry the behemoth and walked with her back to the barren guest bedroom. As she settled in Aizawa quietly set her bag down next to the desk and sat in the chair by the desk on the other side of the room. Knowing her history, it'd probably be best to give support from far away.

"I'll be right over here until you fall asleep Mizuki-chan, and if you need someone don't be afraid to wake Hizashi or I up alright?" She nodded while yawning. Aizawa kept watch as the girl fell asleep, noticing as her face went from tired and a little scared to peaceful in sleep. The man stood up, stretching and popping his back before he went back to, hopefully, sleep in his own bed for a few more hours.

As soon as the man laid down his husband rolled over to throw an arm over him in sleep and Aizawa smiled. He knew life would be hard sometimes. He knew he was probably going to have to stop his boss from taking over the world with the help of two unsuspecting children that were to smart for their own good. He knew helping Mizuki through her trauma would be difficult and painful, but in that moment- with the love of his life snuggling into him- Shouta knew that with Hizashi by his side they could face any challenge life threw at them. Granted he would never be schmaltzy enough to say something like that out loud.

Author's Note: Thank you for your support so far! I know I am human so if you see any spelling or grammar errors I missed or if you have other constructive criticism please let me know! I genuinely want to improve my writing, as I know I am a mid-range writer at best when it comes to creative works.  
Thank you! :)


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: This chapter wound up being a bit longer than I really expected it to be, especially after I broke it up into three chapters so I could go into more details and make it a little less cramped! Please let me know what you think of this chapter!

* * *

**1 July 2168**

Izuku was a smart child, he always had been, some people told him he was a freak, being so smart without an intelligence quirk, but he never paid those people any mind. Other people made fun of him for his determination, saying he was an idiot if he truly believed he would be able to achieve his dream, he ignored those people too. Yes, he was smart, he was quirkless and he was determined. He would be a hero just like All Might, saving people with a smile! He held fast to that dream, even when his own mother had stopped believing in him because of his lack of quirk. But he only really began pursuing his dream after he'd meet Mizuki when she and her mother had moved into the apartment next to theirs.

Mizuki had been the first person to really believe in his dream, and they worked together to find out everything they needed to know to be heroes. They had built a training regime, they had built a nutrition plan, and then they started studying beyond the stuff they were being taught at school. While Mizuki had been drawn towards medicine and languages, Izuku had been drawn towards quirk analysis and police procedures and investigative practices and how they interacted with hero work. So, when he saw police officers outside his apartment wearing the jumpsuits indicating they were investigating a murder scene his heart hit his stomach and his anxiety flared.

He followed his mom towards the imposing officer standing at the front door of their apartment building, probably guarding it. "Good evening officer," he heard her say, "I'm Midoriya Inko from apartment 2-B. Are we allowed to enter the building?"

"You will need to wait for Officer Abe to return from escorting Okumura-san to her apartment. As of right now we are allowing people to return to their apartments, but in order to prevent contamination of the crime scene we are escorting occupants to their homes- and for occupants of the second floor we have officers escorting them out if they need to leave as well."

Izuku's heart sunk further, he knew all of the other people who lived on the second floor. And then a horrifying realization hit him, he managed to stutter out a question, trying to calm the worst thoughts racing through his mind "Is Nakamura Mizuki of apartment 2-A okay Officer-san?"

"I'm sorry kid but I am not at liberty to speak about anything that may be relevant to the case."

"Please Mizuki-chan is my friend!" he was crying, and breathing was becoming increasingly difficult for the green haired boy. He heard the officer repeat the same thing he had said earlier and suddenly he couldn't breathe at all. Mizuki, his best friend, his _only_ friend might be dead. The next few hours were a blur. He knew they tried to call Mizuki, but her phone was either dead or turned off as they were repeatedly sent directly to voicemail.

Around 11 his mother sent him to bed, but he was far to anxious and far too angry to sleep. Some rational part of his brain tried to remind him that it wasn't the officer's fault that he wasn't allowed to tell them anything. Police procedure was police procedure after all, and the man was just doing his job. But the horrible mixture of emotions overwhelmed his rationality. He needed to know what happened, he needed to know Mizuki was okay, he needed this nightmare to be over.

After half an hour Izuku gave up on sleep and booted up his laptop, a birthday present from his father that had arrived a month early. Surely the news would have picked up on the murder next door and publicized it by now.

**2 July 2168**

Mizuki woke up to the smell of steamed rice and tried to bite back a groan as she started feeling around for her glasses. If mom had woken up before her she probably wouldn't get to eat anything besides one of her hidden CalorieMate bars. Her hands hit her glasses and slipped them on before sitting up to get started on her day.

As she sat up the events of the previous day finally caught up to her- this wasn't her apartment, she wasn't about to go for a morning jog to get away from food she wasn't allowed to have, her mom was dead. She took a few shaky breaths before violently shaking her head- feeling the twin braids from the day before smacking her in the face as she did so. "Okay, okay" she sighed and stood up "We're going to stay grounded just like Dr. Tanaka said right Momo-chan?" The cat meowed back at her. "Right, okay, time to get ready then?" She asked as she got up, folded her blankets, and started her morning stretches.

After about ten minutes of stretching Mizuki grabbed the bag with her new clothes and silently padded her way to the bathroom. Down the hall she could hear the radio playing quietly and someone singing along, but she chose to ignore whoever it was, probably Yamada-san, for now in favor of getting ready. The girl shut the door behind her before ripping the tags off of her new clothes, getting dressed, brushing her teeth with the spare toothbrush Yamada-san had given her, and washing her face. Once she finished doing all that, instead of hunting down a comb or hairbrush she chose to ignore her slightly messy braids she went to the kitchen to investigate the source of the signing she'd heard earlier.

Mizuki walked slowly and silently, a skill born from what felt like a lifetime of practice. She couldn't remember a time before she had to walk silently, and had perfected the skill well before her quirk set in. The downside of having learned to walk silently was that she would accidentally scare the living daylights out of people on a regular basis, which she always felt a little bad about afterward.

Mizuki found Hizashi in the kitchen singing along to the radio as he dished the steamed rice into three bowls. "Good morning Yamada-san." It was almost funny how much the man jumped, especially given the fact that he was in full hero uniform.

"Oh God there's two of them now," she heard him mutter under his breath before he turned to face her with a wide smile on his face. "Good morning Mizuki-chan!"

"Two of what Yamada-san?" she bit her lip as she worried about whether or not she'd made him angry.

"Ah nothing bad! Shouta just scares me like that all the time! You two are just so quiet and sneaky! It's impressive, you just startled me!" He grabbed one of the bowls of rice and a banana off of the counter, "Would you like the rice, the banana, or both Mizuki-chan?

"Um…" so the rules here were probably more like Auntie Inko's then Mom's where food is involved, her stomach rumbled quietly, "I'll just take the rice please." Probably better to start slow when it came to food, she'd rather not throw up again.

"Alright little listener, here you go!" the man handed her the bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks with some calico cats painted on the ends. She took it over to the table and watched as he started the coffee machine and put some water into an electric tea kettle, "Do you want some tea Mizuki-chan?"

"Yes please!" she sat swinging her legs and waiting for the man to join her so she could start eating. She had had the necessity of being polite drilled into her head at a very young age. She wasn't about to deviate from those lessons now, no matter how hungry she was. After all, the last time she had started eating something her mom made before she sat down was the last time her mom had made her anything to eat. Better to be polite than sorry later.

Eventually Hizashi turned around and noticed the girl hadn't touched her food yet. He almost smacked himself when he realized she'd been waiting for him and he hadn't noticed. "Mizuki-chan you don't have to wait for me if you're hungry! Go on ahead and eat, I want to finish making this tea before I eat, and I don't mind if you get started without me!"

"Oh, okay… um… Itadakimasu," he shot her a thumbs up and a smile as he pulled down two mugs.

"Would you prefer green tea, or this peach herbal tea I have Mizuki-chan?"

"Either is fine Yamada-san," she said after swallowing her food.

"Really no preference at all? You could have either one," Rule 14 of Aizawa's abused child protocols said that it was best to teach abuse victims that their thoughts and opinions mattered, and that they were allowed to make choices. Something as simple as tea might not make a big difference in the long run but he was hoping it'd be a starting point if nothing else.

"I, I uh, I guess I'll take the peach tea please?"

"You got it little listener!" He beamed at her, and she gave a small smile back, "There's that beautiful smile!" She turned pink but she smiled harder. "So, you listen to my radio show Mizuki-chan?"

"Yes sir! Izuku and I listen to 'Put Your Hands Up Radio' every day it's on while we work on homework together after training! We especially love listening to your interviews with other pro-heroes. You always ask them really interesting questions and Izuku always gets a lot of really good information for his hero analysis journals. Plus, the music you play is great background noise to make Kanji practice more bearable!"

Mizuki suddenly heard shuffling behind her, as if someone had magically appeared a few feet behind her and decided to make themselves known. "What sort of training are you two doing?" Hizashi handed Aizawa a mug of coffee and then went to stand by the electric tea kettle, waiting for the water to finish heating up.

She put her chopsticks down so she wouldn't accidentally start gesturing with them, "Izuku and I joined the Judo club, which meets on Tuesdays and Fridays after school to teach interested students. I have a stretching routine I do every day when I get up and before I go to bed to help build flexibility that I'm pretty sure Izuku is doing every day to, but he definitely does them when I stay the night. We run to and from school together taking the long route, and we climb a lot of trees in the park near our apartments to help build muscle and get used to climbing."

"Usually we'll incorporate playing hero vs villain while we train to help make it more fun which is, is mooo, mmmhh," the noise of frustration escaped her throat before she took a deep breath and tried again "is mo-ti-va-ting." She clapped her hands together, excited to have managed to get the word out of her mouth.

Aizawa decided he would have to keep an eye on that. He had noticed it last night but had written it off as a response to the traumatic day she'd had. Now though he was fairly certain Mizuki had a speech impediment of some kind. While it could be a new thing he seriously doubted it, she seemed used to tripping on her words.

"That sounds like a lot!"

"Yeah it is Yamada-san, but I did a lot of research on healthy exercise for children to make sure we weren't doing anything that would hurt us in the long run. And I did the research to help us build a healthy nutrition plan, so we get enough vitamins and calories to keep up with our activities!" The fact that she had to pay for a lot of that food (she felt bad accepting too much food from the Midoriya's after all) was half the reason she accepted money for helping her elderly neighbor. "Plus, if we're going to be good heroes we need to be prepared!"

Aizawa and Hizashi both found themselves wishing they had more students who took their chosen career path as seriously as this girl did. Aizawa had already expelled most of his class for not taking hero training seriously enough and was considering expelling one of his remaining students for the same reason. Granted, it was only their first year teaching, they might have just gotten unlucky.

"That's really impressive little listener!" Hizashi handed her a mug and tried to push a bowl of rice into the black-haired man's hands. He looked shocked, and then extremely excited that the man took it. "YOU'RE ACTUally eating breakfast! I thought I was going to have to pack that up and bully you into eating it at lunch time!" Mizuki slammed her hands over her ears the moment Hizashi had started using his quirk but was thankful when his shouting dropped in volume significantly.

"Hizashi it's too early to be that loud," his hair was standing on end as he stared down his husband.

"Right sorry, I was just excited," he looked embarrassed, "I've been trying to get you to eat more than coffee and those CalorieMate jelly packets for breakfast for years." Shouta blinked and Mizuki took her hands off of her ears.

"The kid's right, nutrition and calories are important in our line of work, and while those packets provide a lot of vitamins and such, I should probably be getting more calories." He shrugged, "I'm still going to drink one of my pouches when I finish this though."

"Mizuki-chan you are a miracle worker! A goddess amongst mortals! You have succeeded where hundreds have failed! You got him to actually eat breakfast!" Hizashi put a mug of tea in front of her as he said this and finally sat down with his own breakfast.

"Stop scaring her Hizashi." Mizuki was overwhelmed and did the only thing she could think of to avoid having to deal with this. She grabbed her chopsticks and started eating again, trying to keep her mouth to full to speak.

Hizashi chatted at the pair of them happily as they ate and Mizuki ran out of rice well before he did, so she took to sipping her tea and glancing between her two (temporary?) guardians. Yamada-san, Mizuki refused to call an adult by their first name or without the proper honorific- even in her head- without express permission, was happy, awake, and in his element making large gestures with his arms as he told them about something that had happened the week before. Aizawa-san looked like he was exhausted, and he was already on his second cup of coffee which made Mizuki feel incredibly guilty. She really hadn't meant to wake him up.

When he finished the story, he decided he would jump into a new topic, "Hey Mizuki-chan?"

"Yes?"

"Do you want to come with us to work today or would you rather stay here with Shouta? We can do whatever you feel more comfortable with."

"I um… I uh… I don't want to be a bother so I uh… I wouldn't mind coming to work with you. I, I'll just bring some summer homework to do." She stared at the table uncomfortably.

"Are you sure that's what you want to do? It isn't a bother stay here if you'll be more comfortable with that. You've had a rough few days. And once school is over, we were planning on going shopping for things you need. It'll be a busy afternoon."

"I'm, I'm sure Aizawa-san." He nodded in response as he got up to pour some coffee into a travel mug.

"Alright then little listener! If you're done with your tea you should go and get what you want to take with you today."

"Are you sure you don't need my help cleaning up Yamada-san?"

"I'm sure! Go grab what you need Mizuki-chan!"

"Okay!" She put her dishes in the sink and then headed back to her room.

"Only bring what you want to work on Mizuki, there's no reason to hurt your back carrying things you don't need!" Aizawa called after her.

"Yes sir Aizawa-san!" he heard her call from her room, and the joking tone made him smile a little into his scarf before looking seriously at his husband and whispering.

"If we're taking her with us, we need to let the other teacher's know what's going on. I know you talked to Nezu last night and got permission to bring her with us but the last thing we need is for some idiot to accidently cause a panic attack or assume she broke in while we're teaching."

"I'll send a quick email and send a message to the teacher's group chat to let them know what's happening Shou. Mind taking care of dishes while I do that?"

"Alright." Hizashi started typing on his phone faster than should be humanly possible and Shouta went to take care of dishes as quickly as he could. When Hizashi finished typing he came up behind Shouta and gave him a quick hug from behind as he kissed him on the cheek before grabbing a towel to help dry the dishes with.

Mizuki came back with her much lighter backpack firmly on her shoulders right as the pair was finishing with the dishes. Momo-chan was trailing behind her wearing her identifying red vest and both looked up at the clock uncomfortably. "What time do we need to leave?"

The men followed her gaze and then set everything down so they could start scrambling to grab what they needed to take with them. They weren't going to be late, but if they wanted to get there before the students so they could get her set up in the teacher's lounge before all the students arrived and started asking questions they needed to get going. "We are going to leave in five minutes Mizuki-chan."

"Okay Aizawa-san!" the little girl walked over to the door and slipped off her indoor slippers to switch them for her outdoor shoes and stood there with her service animal waiting for them to catch up.

"Alright little listener let's get going!" The three humans and the cat left the apartment quickly and the bright summer sun hit them the moment they got outside, causing Mizuki to shield her eyes with her hand. Hizashi decided to start a conversation as they walked, "So Mizuki what are you bringing with you to work on today?"

"I started my math homework after I woke up from a nightmare so the rest of that, my Japanese textbook and worksheets, and some English grammar worksheets my Japanese teacher gave me to make sure I didn't get bored! I think that'll be enough to keep me busy for a while!"

Given how quickly she had been going through the math worksheets the night before Aizawa was less sure but kept the thought to himself. He had a four-person homeroom this year after having expelled the other sixteen students. The four that were left were mostly responsible students so he could leave them alone during their free period to find her something else to do if he needed to. Or he could always set her up with his laptop.

"Those are good choices! If you need any help with your English homework let me know and I'd be more than happy to help, I am an English teacher after all!"

"Okay Yamada-san!" Things were quite for a moment and then "What do you teach Aizawa-san?"

"I'm a homeroom teacher, I have class 2-A, so I teach some heroics classes for them and I teach the investigations elective."

"That's cool!" She looked around and seeing no one around asked another question. "Can I ask which pro-hero are you? You didn't say last night."

"You probably haven't heard of me before, I'm an underground hero."

"And he hates the press!"

"If my quirk were highly publicized it'd be less effective," he sighed- Hizashi wasn't wrong. He did actually hate the press, but it he'd rather have a rational reason for it. "My hero name is Eraserhead."

Mizuki's eyes lit up in recognition, something that took Aizawa a little off guard, even if he didn't show it. "I've heard of you! Izuku has a whole bunch of notes of you based on a couple videos we found online! You're fighting style is really cool, especially since it seems like you only use your quirk to level the playing field! We didn't get a whole lot of information from the videos, they were all really short and there were only four of them, so Izuku probably has a million questions for you!"

"Aww, look Shouta, you do have fans!" The man in question hid his face in his capture weapon, unwilling to give Hizashi the satisfaction of seeing him flustered. "So, who is your favorite hero little listener?" It was a safe topic and one every kid could spend hours talking about.

"Spectacular Owl! She's the one who saved me! She was amazing, and really kind! Izuku's favorite is All Might though…" she trailed off as her eyes grew wide. In front of her was the largest and most beautiful school she had ever seen.

"Yep that's Yuuei little listener!" Hizashi said before laughing at her shocked expression.

"I… Wow!"

"Yeah let's head on in! It's even cooler on the inside!" Hizashi pulled out an ID, which would allow him to bring a guest onto the campus and scanned it at the gate.

Hizashi pointed out anything and everything he thought might interest the girl as they walked through the empty hallways towards the teacher's lounge and told an exaggerated story about a student he had had earlier in the year trying to get the girl to laugh. It worked and both men counted it as a victory. Along the way Mizuki stopped to try and adjust the arm of her glasses. Bakugou had knocked the screw holding the arm loose when he'd stolen her glasses and held them above his head 'as a joke' a few days earlier. She hadn't managed to find something that she could fix them with yet.

Hizashi noticed the motion and decided to intervein, "Hey, I noticed that your glasses are sitting a little funny on your face, you want me to take them to the support classroom and see if they have a screwdriver to fix them while you get started on your homework? I gotta head that way anyway since my office is down there and I need to get some papers I left on my desk."

"Thank you, Yamada-san," she handed him the glasses and the world instantly got blurrier. The little girl could still see well enough to get around but things further away became less and less distinct until they were just vague blobs of color.

"I'll get her set up in the lounge while you take care of those Hizashi." Techno's tendency to be early was going to help them for once instead of just causing concerning explosions in the basement before the students arrived.

The rest of the walk to the teacher's lounge was comfortably quiet, and Aizawa helped her get set up at the end of the long table. "Do you want me to keep looking over your math homework Mizuki-chan?"

"Sure," she pulled out the red folder and passed him the three worksheets he hadn't finished looking over earlier before pulling out more math worksheets and a pencil. They worked quietly as more teachers began to filter in. None of them said anything about the seven-year-old being there, though most either made a polite introduction or wished them a good morning until Nemuri showed up around thirty minutes before homeroom was set to begin.

"Good morning Mizuki-chan! I'm Kayama Nemuri, also known as the pro-hero Midnight! But, since you're living with the two knuckleheads, you can call me Auntie Nemuri!"

"Ooookay? It's nice to meet you Auntie Ne," she stopped and her eyes grew wide, "oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no," she kept muttering to herself as she frantically dug through her backpack.

Aizawa turned in his seat to face her and slowly placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Mizuki-chan, what's wrong?" She ignored him in favor of pulling her phone out of her backpack and frantically trying to turn it on. Her breathing got faster when the phone's screen stayed black and unresponsive. "Mizuki, slow down. Breath." She took a shaky breath in and out, obviously counting the pace in her head by twitching her fingers. Five counts in, five counts out. He gently put his hand over hers and twitched his fingers at a slower pace than the one she set. He still used the five counts but forced her to stop flying through it.

"You're doing a good job. Do you think you can talk with me?" She shook her head no, "That's alright. Would you like me to talk to you until you're ready," she nodded and so Aizawa quietly told her stories of the cats most recent antics.

The other teachers all tried to busy themselves in preparing for the day to give the pair some sort of privacy. After a few minutes she was breathing normally, she had stopped twitching her fingers to count the seconds, and the panic mostly had faded from her eyes. "Okay Mizuki-chan, what do you need?"

"I need to call Auntie Inko! I didn't last night, and my phone is dead, and she must be so worried! All she would have seen last night was a bunch of police officers at my apartment and then if she couldn't get ahold of me, she probably assumed the worst, and," the panic was returning.

"Alright," cutting her off before she could panic too much, "I can help with that. Do you know her phone number?" She nodded. "Why don't we go to my office and you can talk to her there using my cell phone?" Rule 13 of the abused child protocols- when safe and possible allow the child to interact with safe and trusted adults, it helps them transition and feel as though there are adults who care about them despite everything that has happened.

"Okay Aizawa-san."

"Nemuri could you take over my homeroom if I'm late? Minami-san knows what they need to do today."

"Of course, Shouta."

* * *

Author's note: Two quick things! 1) I started a tumblr blog dedicated this story and My Hero Academia stuff titled TinyWritingBean! If you're interested in any behind the scenes stuff on my writing, fun fanart I find, or just want to chat you can find me there. 2) I have a deleted scene I'd like to share, because I still think it happened and I still like it, just the way the chapters wound up it didn't really fit anymore- would you like me to add it at the end of chapter 7 or start a side story for this and any future deleted scenes?


	7. Chapter 7

Author's note: I used to baby sit a lot when I was younger, and I had a several parents who spent 10-15 minutes giving me a long run down on their kids and the rules of the house before leaving me with them for two hours, so I kind of went into this chapter asking myself what would Aizawa feel like he needed to know and what would Inko feel was most important for anyone watching one of her kids to know. This chapter is the result of that. If you would like random fun facts about this story as I write it, or if you want more My Hero Academia stuff in your life, please check out my Tumblr TinyWritingBean!

* * *

Chapter 7

Inko had slept about as well as Izuku had, which is to say she didn't fall asleep until after 5 AM, but the moment her phone rang she shot up and grabbed it. The number that popped up was unfamiliar, but she answered it anyway and nearly started sobbing in relief when she heard the voice on the other end of the line.

"Auntie Inko!"

"Mizuki! Are you alright! We've been trying to call you all night and we've been so worried!"

"Yes, I'm okay Auntie Inko! I promise I'm okay!" she could hear the girl's voice wobble a little, a tell tale sign the girl was on the verge of tears. "It was really scary coming home to that, but I'm okay. Whoever did it didn't catch me or anything I promise! My phone died while I was at the police station and I guess you didn't start trying to call me until after that. I'm really sorry for worrying you Auntie Inko."

"It's alright Mizuki, it was really scary for us too. There were a lot of police here last night, so we were worried something might have happened to you. Who are you with now? Are you safe? Do you need me to come pick you up? Because if you do, I can do that."

"Yes, it's safe here! I'm with Aizawa-oojisan's son and his husband at the high school they teach at, so you don't need to come get me, I'm okay here."

Inko let out a sigh of relief, she was safe and if she was at a school she would probably stay that way for a while. "Do you like Aizawa-san and his husband? Are they treating you well?"

"Yes, they're really nice! Aizawa-san made me tea and let me work on math worksheets for a while when I had a nightmare last night just like you do, and Yamada-san made me breakfast and didn't even ask me to pay him back for what I ate!" Inko cringed, even after two years of her trying to mother the poor girl she still acted impressed with someone showing her the slightest bit of kindness.

"Is one of the people you're staying with with you right now Mizuki?"

"Um yes. I'm in Aizawa-san's office with him at the moment."

"Can I talk to him for a few minutes Mizu-chan?"

"I'll ask!" Her voice suddenly got quieter, "Aizawa-san, Auntie Inko wants to talk to you for a minute is that okay?"

"Of course," she heard a sound like a door opening, "How about you go back to the teacher's lounge with Hizashi and get some more of your summer homework done, and I'll make sure you get the phone back before I go teach my class?"

The next voice was familiar, though she could not place it for the life of her, "Yeah little listener! I bet if you ask nicely you…" the voice became to quiet for her to hear.

"Hello, this is Aizawa Shouta." The man's voice was deep and oddly calming.

"Aizawa-san, this is Midoriya Inko, I was the Nakamura's next-door neighbor, and Mizuki is my son's best friend." Inko finally gave up on her battle with tears, having lasted a surprisingly long time for a Midoriya. "How is she really doing? I know Mizuki well enough to know she'll tell me she is fine when she isn't to stop me from worrying.""

"She's shaken up, which is to be expected given what she saw, and she had a flashback last night that made her throw up." Inko winced in sympathy before getting up to check and see if there were still police outside their apartment. "We have her eating easy to digest foods right now in hopes that'll help if she has another flashback later but besides the upset stomach, she is physically fine."

"Oh thank God!" Things were quiet for a few moments as she walked up to the door and checked through the peephole, seeing a few police officers milling around with coffee.

"Miydoriya-san? May I ask you a few questions? I know Mizuki-chan has been through a lot, and as a teacher and a pro-hero I've seen abuse cases before. I know from experience that knowing about the child I'm working with can help make them feel safer and more at ease and I'd like your help so I can better help her." The mother felt relief sink into her bones, despite what was going on outside. This man wanted to help the girl she had come to see as her own, and he had experience helping children- which meant that he was probably a good person. Plus, if he was a pro-hero, he would look out for her, keep her safe, and he probably wouldn't put her through any more hell than she'd been through already

"O-of course Aizawa-san! After all you are looking after one of my babies!"

She heard something that sounded like a pen click, "Does she have any allergies we should be aware of?"

"Not that we know of, but you should avoid giving her Jello- it isn't an allergy, but it does give her panic attacks." And God hadn't that been a scary thing to find out. The girl loved those jelly packet things so she thought Jello would be a great after school snack- but then the panic attack happened and Mizuki hadn't been able to calm down enough to avoid passing out no matter what she or Izuku tried.

"Are there any other triggers we need to watch out for?

She took a moment to try and remember all of the things she had learned about Mizuki's triggers over the years before listing off everything she could think of. "She prefers sleeping on a futon, saying that lying on beds reminds her of what happened when she was younger, so if you have a futon she can use that's safer. Less nightmares you have to worry about at least. She doesn't like being shaken awake, and it can lead to panic attacks, but she's a pretty light sleeper so calling her name will usually get her up, though it's pretty rare she doesn't wake up on her own. Touching her when she isn't expecting it generally can also be a trigger for her."

Inko paused to think a little more before continuing, "If you have to talk about her uncle you should avoid saying his name. Just hearing that monster's name can give her flashbacks. Being called baby is also a trigger. I'll let you know if I think of any other ones but those are the only ones I can think of offhand."

"Thank you, Midoriya-san. What strategies have you found work best for helping her when she does have a nightmare or flashback?"

"What Mizuki was telling me you did last night is perfect! I've found that when she has nightmares the best thing to do is to give her some tea and give her a choice of a couple worksheets to work on. She'll pick math if she is particularly distressed by the nightmare and will float towards English or History if the nightmare wasn't too bad. She'll only take Japanese worksheets if she wants to talk about whatever her nightmare was about. I always try to stay awake with her until she feels comfortable enough to go back to sleep, but if I can't she's usually okay if you leave her to it. Mizuki has never taken advantage of being allowed to stay up by herself to watch TV or anything like that."

"Flashbacks and panic attacks are a bit different. The best thing I've found is to sit nearby and just talk at her until she can talk back. She says talking at her helps because it gives her something to latch onto to pull herself back to reality- though I'm not sure how true that is. Her therapist has given her a lot of tools to help with panic attacks, so she usually handles them pretty well now."

"How often does she have nightmares or flashbacks Midoriya-san?"

"She used to have them every day, which I only know because she would come over to our apartment in the middle of the night because her mother didn't like being woken up and she didn't want to be alone. Over the last two years that's been going down significantly. Nightmares seem to only happen once or twice a week now, though that might go up given what she saw yesterday." She cringed just thinking about it. "Panic attacks can vary though. Izuku says she usually has one at school every week."

"You mentioned a therapist, do you know who she sees and when her next appointment is supposed to be? If not I'm sure I can track that information down."

"Mizuki and my son Izuku both see the same therapist, Dr. Tanaka. I take them every other Tuesday and Mizuki will sit with me while Izuku is in his appointment and then we'll wait for her while she is at her's. Their next appointment is supposed to be this Tuesday, Izuku's is at 5:30 and Mizuki's is at 6."

"We will make sure she is there early."

"Thank you! Do you want me to send you the address? I can text it to this number if you need me to."

"That would be very helpful Midoriya-san."

"No problem! I also know Mizuki sees a pediatrician who specializes in malnutrition cases, I believe her name is Dr. Amano, every three months. Mizuki saw her last month at some point apparently but I don't know when her next appointment is."

"We'll figure it out. This is an odder question, but I've noticed sometimes she seems to get stuck in the middle of sentences, is that a new thing or something that has been going on for a while? If this is a long-term thing, I was thinking about talking to some people I know about getting her speech therapy and seeing if that helps her at all."

Inko had to think about it for a minute, she'd never noticed it but now that it was being pointed out it seemed obvious. "She's had that issue since I met her. I'll be honest I barely ever noticed it though because Izuku has such a much more prominent stutter. The school hasn't caught it either apparently because I know Izuku is the only one from his class who meets with the speech therapist that visits the school once a week."

"I'll talk to some people once Mizuki-chan is a bit more settled then."

"Thank you for being so willing to take care of her Aizawa-san. One thing you need to be prepared for is the fact that she'll ask you about the food rules at some point. Her mother," she bit back the insult she was about to let out, speaking ill of the dead before a funeral was never good, "had very…" it took her a few moments to come up with the word she was looking for, "strict rules about food, and God only knows what her uncle was like. Her mother's rules were so strict that I've been trying to get social services involved since I found out about them about a year and half ago. I don't know why they were so reluctant, but I did tell them that Nakamura-san wouldn't let Mizuki eat anything the girl hadn't paid for and hadn't made herself. I feed her as much as she'll let me, but I think she feels guilty about taking too much food from us, regardless often I tell her that it isn't an issue."

She could almost feel the anger radiating from the other end and that was oddly comforting. She wasn't alone in being outraged by Nakamura-san's behavior or social services lack of intervention. "When she asks about the food rules, I recommend telling here there are three rules. First, she isn't allowed to cook by herself. She will cook, alone, if you don't tell her that she isn't allowed to and that really isn't safe, especially since she has to use chairs to be able to really see what she's doing on the counters. If she falls with a knife or slips while working at the stove, she could hurt herself really badly. Second tell her she never has to pay for the food she eats at your house. I didn't realize she was leaving money in my jacket pockets to pay for food until four months after she started visiting- but she did stop when I sat her down and explained why I didn't want her to pay for food."

Inko swallowed the lump building in her throat, "Third tell her she is allowed to eat whenever she is hungry. Having a supply of snacks will help, but make sure she knows that she is welcome to take some whenever she wants and that she can ask you or your husband for help if she needs it. It might take her a little while to follow through with this rule so remind her of it once a week or so until you see her regularly taking things or asking for food."

She heard the man take a sharp breath and then snap his mouth shut, remaining silent for a minute before a calm, "We will." It was quiet for another few moments, "Mizuki will never go hungry again if I can prevent it."

Inko let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding- Aizawa-san really was very different from his cousin. "Good. I'm glad. On a different note, there are still police officers next door. Mizuki has a few things in our apartment like a change of clothes, some pajamas, and her Spectacular Owl plushie do you want me to bring those over sometime? I'm sure having some familiar things will help her, and I don't know when she'll be allowed to stop by and grab the things from her apartment. I can also bring other things like a box of her favorite tea and the worksheets I have printed out for when nightmares happen."

"Are you free this evening?"

"Yes, but I'd have to bring Izuku with me. With what happened yesterday I don't want to leave him home alone." Honestly, she wasn't a fan of leaving him home alone at all, he was still only seven after all. But Izuku was a responsible kid who knew to go downstairs to Okumura-san's apartment if there was a problem. So, if she needed to run to the market down the street while he was working on homework or if it'd be fifteen minutes before someone could come watch him when she had to go in for work she knew he'd be fine.

"That'd be fine. Actually, seeing you and Izuku would probably be good for Mizuki-chan."

"What time do you want me to stop by, and could you send me the address?"

"Would four work? And yes."

"I could come over at four!"

"Would you also be willing to help us shop for Mizuki-chan? We have no idea what she has and what she needs but we were planning on going shopping after classes finish for the day for some clothes and things for her room."

"We could help with that! I'll warn you though, she doesn't have a lot, her room was all but empty last time I saw it and most of the clothes she has don't fit well anymore. I can't really afford to buy her much as a single mother, and she wouldn't have let me anyway. The money she makes from helping Okumura-san, an elderly woman who lives alone in an apartment downstairs, with groceries and housework really only covers her school fees and food from what I've seen."

"I thought that might be the case. She was upset last night when we told her we were going to be making this trip, saying we had already done so much for her already and that she couldn't pay us back."

"That sounds like Mizuki," Inko sighed, "You and your husband'll probably need to be ready to talk to her about it again sometime tonight."

"We will if we need to." The tone of the hero's voice sounded resolved, if tired. "Is there anything else you can think of that we should know?"

She thought for a few moments, "Not that I can think of."

"Don't hesitate to call or text this number if you think of anything."

"I won't. Please take care of her Aizawa-san." The way she said it reminded her of when she said the same thing to Izuku's kindergarten teacher on his first day of school a few years ago.

"I will Midoriya-san." Neither spoke for a few moments before the pro-hero started again- "I'm going to hang up for a few minutes so I can head back to the teacher's lounge where Mizuki-chan is with my husband. I'll leave my phone with her so she can call you again."

"Thank you, Aizawa-san. We'll see you this afternoon," she started heading towards Izuku's room to wake him up, knowing that even if he hadn't really slept and would see her in a few hours, he would be upset about missing his chance to talk to Mizuki after the chaos of last night.

* * *

Bonus Scene:

"Ectoplasm-sensei?"

The man looked up, looking surprised that she was talking to him. "Yes Nakamura-chan?"

"You're a math teacher, right?"

"I am."

"My friend and I are both stuck on this certain type of problem, do you think you could teach me how to do it? If you're too busy I totally understand, and I can work on other problems and watch a Youtube video on it later."

"I should be able to help," he moved from across the room to sit next to her and looked at the work sheet she was working on. And damn, this was not what he was expecting when this tiny kid asked for his help. He'd been expecting double digit subtraction or something, not this. He hadn't had to do this type of problem in years.

"We figured out how to add and subtract matrices by reverse engineering the process from an answer key on Monday, but we keep getting stuck when it comes to multiplying them. Our teacher doesn't know how to do it either so she's no help." She pointed to the two questions on the worksheet that involved multiplying matrices.

"What grade are you in?" The question slipped out before he'd even really thought about it.

"Second?"

"Why are you doing Algebra 2 problems that your teacher doesn't know how to solve?" he asked as he looked up a similar problem online that he could walk her through to show her how to do it.

"Izuku and I finished all the second through eighth grade work already," she shrugged. "We both really like learning and the principal won't let us skip any grades, so our teachers let us work ahead."

He looked at her questioningly for a moment before setting it aside in favor of doing what he loved, teaching. "Alright, let me show you how to do this then," he said as he walked her through the process for about ten minutes.

"Okay, I think I got it! Thank you, Ectoplasm-sensei!" She beamed at him and then set off to work on the problem she had been stuck on muttering her thought process as she went. The man went back to grading the last of the homework he'd assigned his students to help them prepare for finals with a smile. Most kids found his hero costume (or his face) scary, so it was nice to have an interaction with a kid that didn't end in tears for a change.

* * *

Author's note: I will say there is an actual reason social services didn't get involved in this case, despite Inko's insistence. I know social services usually does its best with its very limited resources and if you feel as though something is wrong you should report it. Please don't take this chapter or their failure in chapter the earlier chapters as an indictment of social services in real life.

This is probably the fourth version of this chapter where I started with a blank sheet and wrote the entire scene from scratch. I really like how it's turned out, but please let me know what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

Author's note: does anyone else ever wonder how many teachers Yuuei has? My conservative estimate, given what I know of Japanese schools, the number of students this school has (20 per class, 11 classes per year, three years= 660 unless Izuku's class and year are abnormally large or small), and the general student-teacher ratio of highly selective "elite" high schools would be 58-70. So, over the course of the story, I'm going to reference a couple of OC heroes, they will not be playing a big role though. Techno from a previous chapter was one of these teachers.

Chapter 8

Instead of sleeping, Izuku spent the night pacing around his room, unable to sleep. He tried to be productive, knowing Mizuki would tell him that he should do something productive if he couldn't sleep, but nothing could hold his interest. He tried digging through news websites for information on what was going on next door, he tried starting his summer homework, he tried watching hero videos to practice his analysis, he tried practicing his judo katas but always wound up pacing again within half an hour. His mind was running faster than ever before, making worst-case scenarios run through his head over and over. Sometime around six the anxious energy that had been keeping him awake and moving ran dry and he finally fell asleep- only to be startled awake about two hours later by his mom.

"Izuku!" she was crying and looked as exhausted as he felt.

"M-mom? Are, are you o-okay Mom?!"

"Izuku, Mizuki called! She's okay!" Izuku felt the tears running down his face as he threw himself at his mom. "She's okay Izukun," her hand was running through his curls and her own tears were falling on his head, "she's okay and we are going to go meet with her and the people she's staying with at four." The pair held each other for a few minutes as they cried tears of relief, but the moment her phone rang she pulled away to answer it.

"Hello again, Mizuki-chan!" Inko greeted as she reached around him to grab the tissue box that had been sitting on his nightstand. She grabbed one to blot her face with before handing him the rest of the box. "Would you like to talk to Izuku?" There was a pause and then she handed him the phone.

"MIZU-CHAN! I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE OKAY! I WAS SO WORRIED AND-" The tears started flowing freely and his mom pulled him back into a hug.

"I'm okay Izukun! I'm really really sorry about scaring you like that, my phone died before you and your mom called and just, with everything going on…"

"No! No, it's okay! I-I totally understand, last night was really really bad for you too!" The pair talked for a few more minutes until Izuku started yawning more than he was talking.

"Why don't you try to get a little more sleep now that you know Mizuki is going to be okay? I'll wake you up for lunch?" His mother asked when the tears finally stopped.

"Okay Mom," Izuku was tired, more than he'd ever been. "Bye Mizu-chan, I'll see you later today."

"Bye Izukun, get some sleep!" she hung up the phone and he gave his mother her phone back before settling in for a nap. His mom smiled at him as she tucked him in. A few days ago, he would have protested that he was too old to be tucked in but today it felt comforting in a way that he couldn't fully explain.

"See you in a few hours Izukun," she whispered before gently shutting the door behind her.

The hour and a half between when Inko woke him up and when they were supposed to leave so they could go meet Mizuki was the slowest of Izuku's life. Every minute felt like an hour as he watched the clock slowly, painfully make its way towards 3:45. The only productive things he even attempted to do in that time were brushing his teeth, eating lunch, and getting dressed. His anxiety and his overactive imagination combined to take over his mind while he waited, coming up with scenarios that he continually told himself were not true but ran through his head anyway.

"Izuku, would you like to take one of these bags for me?" his mom asked when he bolted out of the kitchen at 3:40, unable to keep waiting.

He looked at the three bags his mom was carrying, one filled with papers, and the other two looked to be filled with soft things- maybe clothes or a blanket- Spectacular Owl's owl head watched him from one of the bags as he approached and took a bag from her without question. The pair walked to the subway station near the apartment complex and talked about All Might's most recent fight. The boy knew that this was his mom's way of trying to ease his anxiety, and he was grateful even if it wasn't really helping.

After the ten-minute train ride, Inko changed the topic as she inspected the nearby buildings, looking for the right one. "Izukun, remember Mizuki had a really hard day yesterday, she might be tired or sad so be gentle even if she was reassuring and seemed upbeat on the phone earlier."

"O-of course Mom!" It was another thing to worry about, but it was reasonable. His mom led him to the apartment they were looking for.

"Would you like to knock Izuku?" His mom asked as they got off the elevator, and then smiled gently at him and watched as he ran up to the door and knocked as loudly as he could.

"IZUKUN!" his best friend, the only kid in their grade who was shorter than he was, slammed into him and he threw his arms around her, dropping the bag his mom had given him.

"Mizu-chan!" he hugged he tighter to reassure himself she was really there, ignoring the fact that the front of his shirt was getting wet. "I-I'm so glad you're okay Mizu-chan! I, I was so worried! I thought you'd been hurt or…" he broke down crying and clung to his best friend with all of his strength. He knew that he had talked to her earlier in the day, he knew she'd been okay, but until he saw her there had been a traitorous part of his brain that was whispering poisonous doubts in his ear. 'What if she'd been kidnapped and they were forcing her to call them to throw off the trail,' or 'What if the villains had someone with a voice quirk that could mimic her voice and she was actually really hurt or dead?' He resolved to make code words with her in case anything this bad ever happened again.

His mom put down what she was carrying and pulled them both into a gentle hug. The kids' crying was finally slowing down, and she was whispering reassurances when she caught sight of a black-haired man keeping watch from the doorway. "Izuku, Mizuki how about we go inside for a few minutes?"

"O-okay Mom," the green-haired boy hiccupped before reaching down to grab Mizuki's hand. The man waved them in lazily before grabbing the things that Inko and Izuku had set down in order to hug Mizuki, carrying the three small bags with ease.

"Ojama shimasu." The words flew off of Inko's tongue reflexively as she entered the apartment.

"Ohairi kudasai. Thank you for coming Midoriya-san." Izuku heard the man say as he put down the bags they'd brought on the couch. His attention was quickly diverted to a blond man with his hair pulled back into a bun who entered the room carrying two bottles of water.

"Hey there little listeners! Would you like some water?" Mizuki nodded so, trusting her judgment, Izuku nodded as well.

He handed them each a bottle of water, "My name is Yamada Hizashi! We're going to let those two talk for a few minutes and then we'll go get some shopping done! Sound good little listeners?"

"Yes, Yamada-san!" Izuku and Mizuki said at the same time making Hizashi laugh a little bit as he shepherded them out of the living room and into the kitchen.

"So, you're the Izuku-kun Mizuki-chan keeps talking about?" He squatted down and flashed a mischievous grin, "Do you actually like the radio show or is Mizuki-chan lying to be polite?"

Izuku was a hero fanboy and he wasn't afraid to admit it. The only things he loved more than heroes were his mom and his best friend, so when the gears turned in his head to put together what the blond man was talking about, he started squealing. "Y-you're Present Mic!"

The man smiled widely before making some dramatic movements that made Mizuki laugh a little, "That's right little listener!"

"MIZU-CHAN WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE WITH THE PRESENT MIC! I LOVE the show! Oh wait! I have so many questions!" He pulled a tiny notepad out of his short's pocket. "Does your quirk damage your hearing? Does using your quirk cause everything else to seem quieter or louder? Are you able to use your quirk to propel yourself? Can you change the pitch and direction of your voice at will or just the volume? Does your quirk allow you to imitate other people? What's the highest decibel you can achieve? Is the hair a stylistic choice or do you style it that way to avoid giving away a secondary characteristic of your quirk to give you a tactical advantage? When…"

The man cut him off raising his hands in defeat, "Woah there, little listener! I can only answer one question at a time! But you seem to have a real talent for asking smart questions!"

"Izukun does amazing hero analysis!" The boy turned bright red with the praise.

"R-right, sorry Yamada-san."

Inko popped her head into the kitchen and looked at the two children's tear-stained faces. "Izuku, Mizuki why don't you two go wash your faces and then we can go get the shopping done? You can ask Yamada-san more questions later."

"Yes Mom." "Yes, Auntie Inko." Mizuki grabbed his hand and dragged him with her to the bathroom.

Shuffling between the children's section and the changing room of the huge store so Mizuki could try things on was boring, or at least Izuku thought so. But, at least Present Mic was willing to answer his and Mizuki's questions! His quirk was fascinating, and the stories he would tell were amazing!

Once all of the clothes were picked out Aizawa-san and his mom left to pay for them and load them into Yamada-san's car leaving him and the blond man to help Mizuki pick things out for her room.

"Alright little listeners, your job is to find stuff to make Mizuki's room less boring! You two need to find at least four at most seven cool things to put on her walls, some awesome blankets for her futon, and two plushies or stuffed animals!"

Izuku was initially excited to hear that, he would help Mizuki have the best room ever! Then he saw his best friend pale a little bit and panicked, "Are you okay Mizu-chan?!"

"Yeah, I'm, I'm okay I just," she looked down at her shoes uncomfortably, "I don't, I don't need that much stuff! I've never owned that much stuff before in my life! Yamada-san and Aizawa-san have already gotten me so much stuff today and I know they've spent a lot of money on me already and I don't deserve it!"

"Mizuki-chan, I promise it's okay. Shouta and I make plenty of money that we can afford to get you everything you need and help you make your room into a place you like. You are a very sweet girl, and we want to take care of you! So, don't go saying things like you don't deserve new clothes or toys, because you absolutely do okay?" Mizuki nodded, still looking at her feet.

"Th-thank you Y-Yamada-san!" Izuku stuttered, grateful that he'd tried to talk some sense into his best friend. He wasn't stupid, he knew the way Nakamura-san treated his best friend was horrible and he knew that Mizuki knew that logically. They'd even talked about it before, but emotions were a whole different thing. She felt like she wasn't worth taking care of because she'd been told that over and over- and Dr. Tanaka said it'd take time before she unlearned that despite his and his mom's work to try and convince her. He gently grabbed her hand and lead her to where the posters were while Hizashi followed them with a cart.

"W-what do you think of this one Mizu-chan?" Izuku asked as he held up an All Might poster he had in his room.

"It's really cool, Izukun. But… I can see it whenever I come to visit you and Auntie Inko."

"Okay," they dug through the collection of posters when Izuku hit the jackpot. "How about this one!" he held up a poster that had been in the clearance section- Spectacular Owl flying through the city towards the viewer with the full moon behind her.

"That is the best poster ever Izukun!" The boy smiled wide and carefully put it into Hizashi's cart. Mizuki found the next two posters, both from the clearance section- a space themed one with a weird looking spaceship and the words Star Trek on the bottom, and another one of Spectacular Owl. This one had her favorite hero in the clouds at night wings outstretched, stars peeking through, with her hand outstretched toward the viewer and her eyes closed in something as close to a smile as the snowy owl headed woman could make. Izuku discreetly showed her a Present Mic poster while the man was distracted by a cheerful store employee and they added it without him seeing it.

Hizashi for his part took some glow in the dark stick-on stars from the cheerful woman and put them in the cart underneath the posters before Mizuki saw them figuring they'd be a nice surprise. If she asked where they came from, he'd claim he'd found them in the closet- no need to have her worry about money again, especially when they were super cheap. "Izukun? Where do you think the blankets are? We found all the Spectacular Owl posters they have."

They left the posters to find some blankets. "Which do you think is better? The rainbow kittens," she pointed at a thick blanket with cartoonish rainbow cat faces on it, "the stars, or this flower one?" All three of them had yellow stickers, indicating they were on sale.

Izuku muttered about the benefits and drawbacks of each of the choices for a minute before nodding decisively and pointing at the blanket she'd mentioned on the top shelf. "Definity the stars!"

"Thanks, Izukun!" Hizashi grabbed the large blanket off the shelf and rearranged things so it wouldn't crush any of the rolled-up posters while keeping the glow in the dark stars hidden. By the time the trio made it to the toy section Aizawa and Inko had caught up to them, with Aizawa carrying a booster seat for their car slightly awkwardly and Inko adding a hairbrush to the cart. Mizuki immediately latched on to Spectacular Owl plushie she found in the clearance section and then wandered the stuffed toy aisle with Izuku.

The green-haired boy pointed out any of the stuffed animals or hero plushies he thought she might like as they passed until he saw it, the one he knew would be perfect for her at the end of the aisle. He ran and grabbed it before coming back and pushing it towards her. The stuffed animal in question, a pillow sized cartoonish grey cat, was the softest thing Mizuki had ever held. "I love him! He's so squishy Izukun!" She squeezed the cat before putting it in the cart.

The cheerful store employee from earlier rung everything up, and after they'd paid, they returned to Hizashi's car. Inko expertly set up the booster seat while the kids helped get everything else into the car.

"W-what're we h-having for dinner Yamada-san?"

"What's your favorite food Mizuki-chan?"

"Anpan?"

"I th-thought it was taiyaki Mizu-chan?" Taiyaki was definitely better than Anpan in his book, the fish shape was fun and it had a wider variety of fillings.

"They're both good, I just like the, the, the breadier? Is that a word? Probably not, but yeah breadier, taste of Anpan. Anything with red bean paste is good though!" Izuku made a face at that, he'd never been a fan of the stuff.

Hizashi decided to reword the question, "What's your favorite dinner food?"

"Taiwanese beef noodle soup." Izuku knew she had only ever had that a few times, his mom only ever made it for her birthday, and she'd never made it for herself since it had a long cooking time.

"Guess what we're having for dinner then little listeners!"

"Yamada-san no! Beef is so expensive!" Mizuki looked mortified as Inko picked her up to put her in her newly installed booster seat.

"Yamada-san YES!"

Author's note: Chapter 8 was actual hell to write. Seriously, I have more drafts of this than I do any other chapter of any story I have ever attempted to write. I think I have 30 pages worth of rewrites and edits that I just don't like. There's even a version told from Momo-chan's POV somewhere in all of that. Anyway, please let me know what you think! And if you're interested in behind the scenes stuff or just want more My Hero Academia stuff in your life you can follow my Tumble TinyWititingBean! Thank you for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

Author's note: My apologies for the wait! With everything going on I didn't get a chance to do any editing for this chapter until April 3rd (four days after my usual release schedule would have me posting the chapter). My work schedule has me busier than ever so I will probably be moving to an every other Monday schedule until June with the next chapter being released on Monday, April 12th and the one after that coming out on the 26th. To make up for this delay enjoy my longest chapter to date and another short bonus scene! I really like how this one turned out and I hope you do too!

* * *

Chapter 9

"Mizuki-chan it's time to wake up, we're home."

"Mmmphh," her face was pressed against the cool car window, glasses slightly crooked and ignoring the voice calling for her was surprisingly tempting. She was tired and warm, but she blinked awake- her desire to not be a bother overwhelming her desire to sleep.

"Do you want Hizashi or I to carry you up to bed, or do you want to walk?"

Her throat felt scratchy from sleep and her voice came out as a whisper, "I'll walk." She fumbled around until she found her seatbelt buckle and managed to shimmy her way out of the seat and onto the ground outside. "What time is it?"

"8:30, which means you have a half-hour until bedtime little listener! Let's get you inside so you can get ready while we bring stuff in." He handed her a shopping bag with her new stuffed toys inside it, "Can you take this up with you?" She nodded and followed him up the stairs. After she took the toys out of the bag and placed them in her room, she went back to the living room to move the stuff the Midoriyas had brought her to her new room too.

"I'll get your futon set up with your new blankets if you want to go get ready for bed Mizuki-chan!" Hizashi's face looked as bright as his voice sounded so Mizuki nodded, hoping to avoid disappointing the man. She dug through the two bags and found her light purple nightgown and a bottle of the citrusy All Might three-in-one soap, shampoo, and conditioner that Izuku loved buried amongst some other things.

"Yamada-san, can I, can I use your shower?"

The man looked up from where he was wrestling with the plastic packaging of the blanket set the girl had picked out, "Of course you can Mizuki-chan! Our shower can be a bit tricky to turn on though so let me show you!" He walked her through how to turn it on and how to adjust the temperature before rushing back to try and get the blankets freed from the plastic that engulfed them.

It seemed like he had finally given up and let Aizawa take over with scissors when she came back to her room, Momo-chan at her heels. "Hey little listener would you like me to take care of your hair before you go to bed?"

"If it isn't any trouble?"

"Great!" He dug around in the bags until he found the hairbrush Inko had added to the cart and then sent her to sit on the couch while he grabbed his cordless hairdryer. "So little listener, do you want me to braid your hair before you go to bed or just brush and dry it?"

"Could you leave it? I can braid it in the morning."

"Alright then! Speaking of tomorrow morning I'm going to help you get your room set up and we're going to go grocery shopping so we can get you some snacks you like, sound good?"

"Okay Yamada-san," the girl flinched when he reached a knot in her hair, and he made sure to work through it as gently as he could.

"In the afternoon we are going to go visit the Midoriyas again and get your things out of your old apartment. You won't have to go inside if you don't want to and if you decide to go in you can just tell us what you want and then you can go spend the rest of the day with your Auntie Inko and Izuku-kun maybe watch some movies or go play in the park." He finished working through the knot and moved to brush through the rest of her hair.

"Thank you for doing my hair Yamada-san."

"It's no trouble little listener! Now, how about I dry your hair so you can head to bed? You must be getting tired!" And that's what they did.

* * *

Aizawa finished dealing with the absurdly wrapped blankets, slipped into the living room to say goodnight to Mizuki while Hizashi was blow-drying her hair and fell onto his bed. He was exhausted. Which wasn't a new thing for the man- the gods knew he got nowhere near enough sleep- but somehow shopping and crowds always took more out of him than hero work or teaching. Groaning he pushed himself back into a sitting position and pulled his laptop out of the bag sitting next to his bed, intent on watching some of the footage he had of his student's final practical hero class before finals.

Hizashi came into their room about ten minutes later and pulled out his own laptop to get some work done, "We'll check on the little listener in about an hour?" Aizawa looked up at his husband and nodded before returning his focus to the indoor hero vs villain fight going on between two of his students and looking for things to critic them on on Monday.

The pair worked side by side, each engrossed in their own work, Aizawa completely silent and Hizashi occasionally thinking out loud until Aizawa finished the videos and typed a few final notes. He shut his laptop and put it away before getting out of bed to check on the seven-year-old across the hall. Mizuki was fast asleep, with all three of the cats curled up asleep with her. Kuro almost blended into her hair, Daiki was draped over her legs, and Momo was being held like a teddy bear and, well… if Aizawa took a picture nobody had to know about it, did they?

He left her door open enough that the cats could escape if they wanted to and went back to his own room, quietly shutting the door so he could speak with his husband without her waking up and overhearing.

"Mizuki-chan is asleep."

Hizashi pulled up a new word document on his computer. "Right, so I guess we need to talk about what you texted me about earlier then?"

"Amongst other things."

"So, what happened with the case that the police called you about besides giving us permission to take Mizuki to get her things?"

"The coroner and the forensics team want to hold onto the body for a while so they can do more tests."

"How long is a while in this case? I mean, I don't work as many murder cases as you do but the few I have worked have usually been resolved pretty quickly."

"Since they don't have a suspect yet, the murder was brutal, and they know they won't be able to run any more tests once she's been cremated I would be shocked if we got permission to have the funeral before school starts unless they find a solid lead that leads to some suspects."

"If they don't find a lead," it was uncommon for no leads to be found but not unheard of.

"After the New Year. They'd want to hold onto the body until they have a suspect, in case the defense wants to have their own tests conducted, but at that point closure for the family would be considered more important."

"So, we can't really make funeral arrangements." Hizashi sounded tired when he said it.

"No."

Hizashi got a little louder than was really advisable when you live in an apartment complex, though that's why they had their apartment soundproofed. "But we need to do something with Mizuki to give her some sort of closure."

"Yes. Midoriya-san recommended that we go let her float a lantern down the river and hold a small ceremony of our own until we can have a more formal funeral ceremony. I will also talk to the social worker I'll be meeting with tomorrow while at the station to see if they have any ideas."

"During Obon this year or before that?"

"Both, either, whatever Mizuki needs or wants. We can keep the offer open for her and let her set the pace." Grief looks different from person to person and forcing people to act in certain ways, especially children, would do more harm than good at the end of the day.

"That would probably work, we'll have to talk to the little listener about it and let her set a date if she wants to do it. But well, I guess funeral planning is at a standstill until we can get more information. What else do we need to cover?"

"Long term planning on how we can best help Mizuki-chan."

"Right." He was silent for a moment, "What do you think is best Shouta?"

The twenty-three-year-old sighed. The last two days were taking a toll on him, though his resolve from the night before had not changed. "Mizuki-chan needs stability, and she needs people who are willing and able to take care of her long term." He felt his husband put his hand on his shoulder and he leaned into the touch a little, careful to avoid knocking the laptop sitting on his lap off the bed.

"We'll be those people then." Hizashi's conviction was clear in his voice.

"Yes, we will be." He matched his husband's conviction, "Which means in the long term we are looking at adopting her. I did some research during my break at work earlier. The process will take about a year, but we will have custody of her during that time assuming we pass the inspections and interviews Child Services will do."

Hizashi nodded and made a few more notes on his computer, "Right, so, what else long or short term we should cover tonight?"

"Your birthday is on the seventh, Mizuki's is on the eighth and today is the third. We should probably come up with a few ideas of what to do on that front and let Mizuki decide what she wants to do."

"Right. Obviously, we'll cancel our original plans to go to the bar with Nemuri and Tensei! But yeah, you're right, we should probably come up with some ideas. Having your eighth birthday completely ignored because of a tragedy would be painful, but so would being forced to celebrate when you don't feel up to it. We could offer a couple of options ranging from staying home and ordering takeout to have a small party with Nemuri, Tensei, maybe his younger brother, and anyone she wants to invite."

"Right. So those are the ends of the spectrum. Let's come up with some ideas in that spectrum to present to her so she can pick through them."

"Well, we could get some cake and have a movie marathon here, with or without the Midoriya's. I mean what eight-year-old doesn't love cake and Disney movies?"

"Alright. That's an option, another option would be just to get dinner somewhere, invite the Midoriyas if she wants to."

"Spending time just the three of us on Sunday or the three of us plus the Midoriyas doing something like the zoo or a museum might be something she'd enjoy? I'll talk to her about this tomorrow morning while we are setting up her room and I'll text you, Midoriya-san, Nemuri, and Tensei to let them know what the plan is." Aizawa nodded slightly. "Any other ideas or anything else that needs to be talked about tonight?"

"We need to get rid of the Jello you have in the refrigerator before Mizuki wakes up. Apparently, Jello is a big trigger for Mizuki-chan." He pulled the notepad he'd used earlier in the day while talking to Inko out of his bag on the floor and passed it to his husband.

"Right, would you mind taking care of that while I read these over?" the black-haired man got off the bed again and disposed of the Jello before stopping in the bathroom to brush his teeth.

"Love you Shou," Hizashi whispered before kissing him gently.

"Love you to Zashi," was the mumbled response before the man gave in to the siren call of sleep.

* * *

"Alright little listener! We're going to turn your room from this boring blah place filled with bags into a shopping bag free cool kids' room!"

"Okay Yamada-san!" She had already folded up her blankets and set her futon to air out in the morning sun.

"Great! Why don't we start by sorting your new clothes and putting them away? Then we'll work on figuring out the best place for all of your posters!"

"Alright," she smiled at him before carefully taking each article of clothing out of the bags and sorting it by type: shirts, shorts, skorts, the two dresses they'd managed to get into the cart despite her protesting about cost, socks, and underwear all found their own neat pile.

"So, your birthday is on the 8th?"

"Yeah, but we don't have to do anything- getting me new clothes was more than enough!" Her face turned pink and she busied herself trying to figure out how to organize the new clothes in the dresser they had kept hidden in the closet. She honestly wasn't used to people being willing to buy her things, even if they could afford it and she didn't want to seem ungrateful by asking for birthday presents.

Mizuki also honestly wasn't sure how to feel about celebrating her birthday at all before you added in her mom's death. She couldn't remember if her mother had held any celebrations for her first three birthdays, so she had no idea if she had ever celebrated her birthday before Auntie Inko insisted on baking her a cake for her sixth birthday and hosting a joint birthday party for her and Izuku the week after and it had always been a little odd. She had done it again last year and both years it had been kind of weird. Bakugou's mom and Okumura-san cooed over her and Izuku and Bakugou was forced to be nice instead of pushing her and Izuku around. And presents were just an overwhelming concept in general.

With her mom being murdered so close to her birthday she was uncertain whether it was appropriate to celebrate her birthday at all. Was it disrespectful to her mom to celebrate her life? Would her mom be mad at her if she had fun? She had no idea, and she had no idea how to ask, let alone who to ask. Mizuki liked Aizawa-san and Yamada-san but she had no real idea what the rules and boundaries were. The whole thing was a lot to try and handle.

"We don't have to do anything if you don't want to, we can just order some takeout or something maybe some cake if you want it. But if you feel up to it, we would like to do something to celebrate with you and we even came up with some ideas for things we could do if you want to."

She bit her lip and kept her eyes trained on the clothes she was sorting while she processed that. He sounded sincere, but doubt swirled in her head, and she still wasn't sure she wanted to or if it was even okay to celebrate either way. "I um… Is it… Is it okay to celebrate my birthday so close to when mom died?"

"If you want to celebrate it then yeah. Your mom would want you to be happy even if she isn't here with you anymore." He said it in a quieter and more relaxed tone than most people would assume Present Mic was capable of, and Mizuki silently wondered how much of Present Mic's personality was just a pro-hero persona to make people happy and relaxed and how much of it was Yamada Hizashi.

"I um… I guess it'd be okay then, if you, if you and Aizawa really don't mind."

His face brightened immediately, "Great I have five ideas! I already mentioned the first idea and it's kinda quiet, but we could just stay home, invite your favorite green-haired family, and watch whatever movie you want and order in some food and get a cake. The second is we could go out to dinner with Izuku-kun and your Auntie Inko. The third would be going to the zoo on Sunday and asking the Midoriyas if they want to come with us to celebrate your birthday. The fourth idea is the same as the third one except it'd be a museum instead of the zoo. And the fifth idea would be to host a small party here on Sunday with board games, take out, cake, movies and a couple people like the Midoriyas, Nemuri, another close friend of Shouta and I's and his little brother who is about your age, and anyone else you want to invite."

Mizuki suddenly remembered something Izuku had pointed out to her when they were doing a hero analysis of Present Mic. "Your website says that your birthday is the day before mine."

"It is little listener, but I'd rather do what you want to do. So, you get to decide the plan! You don't have to choose right now though if you don't want to, and you can always change your mind- nobody will be mad."

If she was honest, she liked the idea of having a small party, if only because she was sure Izuku would love meeting Midnight and whichever pro-hero the other friend was, but she was going to take no chances. She knew Kayama-san was at least relatively nice, she had spent some talking to her the day before, but she knew nothing of the other two people Yamada-san wanted to invite. "Are your friend and his brother nice people? People are mean to Izukun all the time at school because they're self-important m-mor-mor, umph, idiotic jerkwads. And I don't want anyone else to be mean to him if I can prevent it."

Hizashi tried to look as serious as he could, "I swear Tensei and Tenya-kun are good people who wouldn't dream of being mean to your friend for no reason."

"The people who are mean to him think they have a good reason. They're just dumb and their logic is bad, and they should feel bad about themselves." She muttered, more to herself than to Yamada-san, as she finished organizing her sock drawer.

"Why are people mean to Izuku-kun Mizuki-chan?" He sounded confused.

"They're mean because they're stupid people who make bad choices." She deflated, "But they bully him because they think he doesn't have a quirk and he still wants to be a hero to protect people. Which is a stupid reason."

"Izuku-kun doesn't have a quirk?" He sounded shocked.

"No, they think he doesn't have a quirk, there's a difference. The pinky toe joint test is notoriously unreliable- with an accuracy of only 58%, which is only a little better than flipping a coin, and Auntie Inko can't afford to pay for the more expensive, but more accurate tests. He might just have a quirk with a very specific unlock cr-cr-cri," a sigh of frustration, "condition like being able to breathe in space or something. But it doesn't matter if he has a quirk or not! He is a good person and he's going to be a great hero because he works really hard and he's really smart, and he cares so much about people!" She was almost shouting by the end before she took a deep breath and lowered her volume in an attempt to make it very clear that she would not let anyone be mean to her friend, not even a pro-hero like him. "Izukun is my best friend and anyone who wants to be a discriminatory jerk will have to answer to me and I'm a LOT tougher than I look."

"Woah there little listener!" Hizashi raised his hands in a placating motion, "I don't care if Izuku-kun has a quirk or not, I was just a bit surprised since it's pretty rare these days. But yeah I'm positive Tensei won't care and I'll check with him to make sure his brother won't cause any trouble before I invite him if you decide you want to go the party route alright?"

"Okay. I'm sorry Yamada-san." She felt a little bad about assuming and trying to intimidate the hero, not that she could really have done anything even if she wanted to.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't apologize! I'm proud of you for being so willing to defend your friend and for taking a stand against quirk discrimination- it says a lot of good things about you that you're so ready to stand up for him and support him. You'll both make excellent heroes someday!" He shot her a smile and a thumbs-up before reaching for a random poster. "Mind if I ask you a couple more questions while we work on getting these where you want them?"

"Okay, thank you Yamada-san!"

"No problem little listener! Now let's see which poster this is," he unrolled it to reveal the odd spaceship poster, "Where do you want this one?"

"Could you put it above my desk?" He shot her another thumbs up and grabbed the double-sided tape of the desk.

"Is this the height you were looking for?"

"Yeah!"

"Great!" He put a piece of tape on the wall and stuck the top right corner of the poster to it before speaking again. "I hate to have to ask this little listener but are your classmates bullying Izuku?"

Her voice was somber, "Yes they are."

"Are they bullying you for being his friend?"

She paused for a moment before answering, trying to decide how honestly she wanted to answer the question. She didn't want him to think any less of her, especially since he was so chill about her earlier intimidation attempt- but was lying or being honest worse here. She decided to be honest. "Yes."

"Did one of your classmates break your glasses?"

"Yeah," she was looking at her feet.

"You know that isn't okay right? Quirk discrimination is illegal, and so is stealing and breaking other people's things."

"I know, but nobody can make them stop if the teachers don't catch them- it's our word against theirs and the principal hates us."

"That's also not okay! Shouta and I will come up with a way to fix this." He bent down to grab another poster.

"Please just don't do anything to make it worse, the last time Auntie Inko tried to do something the principal called us into his office the next day to yell at us for 'lying' to her. He gave us detention for a week for disrespecting authority and lying to discredit the school." She watched him unfurl one of the Spectacular Owl posters, "And uh, the Spectacular Owl Posters should go over in the corner where I put my futon."

"We won't I promise. Want to do some lighter questions while I put these up?"

"Sure."

"Alright so we'll take turns asking each other questions, but we each have to answer the question we ask before the other person does. I'll start! What's your favorite color? Mine's orange!"

"My favorite color is either pink or purple! What's your favorite food? Mine is Anpan!"

"My favorite food is fried chicken. If you couldn't be a hero what would you want to be when you grew up? I would want to be a radio show host and a teacher!"

"You're already those things though!"

"Yeah I am!" He grabbed one of the two remaining posters, and it happened to be a Spectacular Owl one, which he started to tape to the wall.

"I guess I'd want to be a doctor so I could still help a bunch of people. Besides medicine and biology and chemistry are all super interesting! Or maybe I'd be a math professor- that'd also be interesting. Um… What's your favorite animal? Mine's cats! Especially Momo-chan!" As if on cue the cat walked in and started brushing against Mizuki's legs.

Hizashi pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of the two of them before picking up the last poster and unrolling it. He promptly burst out laughing when he saw his own face staring back at him. "Where do you want this one little listener?"

"Across from the window so if anyone ever tries to break in there is someone staring at them." It was silly and she knew it, but the thought made her feel better.

He looked surprised for a moment before he nodded with a look of understanding, "Alright. Once I get this one up, I found something I thought you might like! And I guess my favorite animal is also cats because they remind me of Shouta. Do you think there are aliens? I do!"

"I do too! Aizawa-ooji-san took me out to a farm in the countryside to show me all the stars and there's so many of them! They're so beautiful and it's nice to think there are other people out there, even if they're too far away to see."

"Speaking of stars," he held out the pack of glow in the dark stars he'd bought, "how about we hang these up on your ceiling?"

"Yes please, Yamada-san!" She smiled widely; she loved the idea of glow in the dark stars but could never justify spending the money she earned from helping Okumura-san to buy her own pack.

"Do you want to hang them up? I'll pick you up so you can reach the ceiling and hand you the stars so you can place them?"

"Sure!" Hizashi pulled the paper off the back of the star, revealing the adhesive before handing it to her and picking her up.

"You got it Mizuki-chan?" he asked after settling the girl on his shoulders. Her head nearly brushed against the ceiling, but she was well balanced.

"Yep, I got it!" She placed the star before reaching down her hand waiting for him to hand her another one. "Do you know what Star Trek is? I don't, I just thought the poster's background and the spaceship were cool."

"I think it might have been a show from the pre-quirk era. I'm not sure. If it was a show from the pre-quirk era would you watch it? I would!"

"Yeah! I mean it looks like it's a space journey sort of thing and that's super cool!" She was smiling as she placed another star. "If quirks weren't a thing, do you think we would be intergalactic travelers by now? I remember reading an article where a scientist said that was probably what would have happened."

"Maybe," he handed her another star and moved in the direction she pointed so she could reach another section of the ceiling. "Predicting how things could have been is a dangerous game to play you know?"

"That's fair. Still your turn to ask a question though!"

"Hm… Would you want to meet an alien?"

"YES!" She cut him off, not giving him a chance to answer his own question.

"What if they weren't friendly?"

"Then we know the aliens are jerks and the heroes can send them home packing!"

Hizashi laughed for a moment before responding, "Yeah we would! I think I'd like to meet an alien too."

"Do you like sci-fi books? I haven't gotten to read very many of them but there are a lot of fun ones, especially ones about hope and discovery!"

"I haven't read very many of them either little listener, but I enjoyed what I have read- except one which was overly dark and depressing. What do you want for lunch today? I thought we'd eat before we go grocery shopping. I'm not sure whether I want to make omurice or if I want to heat up some of the frozen pork dumplings we have. So, I'll let you pick for us."

"The pork dumplings will be faster."

"Sounds good little listener! Pork dumplings it is!" He said as he handed her the last star.

The pair continued trading questions through lunch and through grocery shopping, with the questions getting progressively more outlandish. By the time they returned with the groceries Aizawa was home and waiting for them so they could head over the Midoriya's apartment.

* * *

Bonus Scene:

Mizuki didn't pay any attention to the passing of time, preferring to immerse herself in her work so she was shocked when she heard a loud voice calling to her from the doorway, "Hey little listener, I brought lunch!"

"Oh! Thank you, Yamada-san." She started shoving her homework back into her backpack, not wanting to accidentally get food on it.

"What have you gotten done so far Mizuki-chan?" the man asked as he put one of the trays down in front of her.

She watched him as he put down his own tray of food and sat down, "I finished all of my math homework thanks to Ectoplasm-sensei, all of the Japanese homework I could without a computer to do research or something going on in the background, and about half of the English grammar worksheets- I still have a few more and an essay to write though."

"That sounds like a productive morning little listener! Itadakimasu!"

"Itadakimasu!" The pair ate as more teachers filtered into the teacher's lounge.

"So, what did you mean about needing something in the background to do your Japanese homework?"

"Writing each of the 1,026 kyoiku kanji ten times with nothing to keep my mind busy sounds like a bad time."

Nemuri snorted before nodding sagely, "That's fair Mizuki-chan! Man, I'm glad I don't have to do kanji practice anymore."

"You probably should Muri! I heard another student complain about how they couldn't read your handwriting yesterday." A few of the other teachers muttered in agreement. Nemuri and Hizashi spent the rest of lunch bickering good-naturedly while Mizuki listened quietly, occasionally shooting glances at Aizawa how looked exasperated with the pair, and covertly passing Momo-chan scraps from her lunch.

* * *

Author's note: I did a lot of research on how kids grieve, and I have a lot of experience working with grieving kids. So, with that said I am doing my best to make Mizuki as realistic as I can. She had a very complicated relationship with her mother (for obvious reasons) and grief is complicated anyway and can show up in a lot of different ways, including frequent and sudden mood swings. Aizawa and Hizashi are also a little difficult to get a handle on because they're near-strangers to her who are trying to fill a parental role despite being young themselves. Neither is experiencing grief for the dead, but they both feel a tremendous amount of sadness for all the trauma Mizuki has gone through and they're trying to figure out how to help her. The next chapter will be up on April 12th.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's note: Hello again everybody! So apparently I'm a dummy who can't read a calendar- I did not mean to say I was going to post this chapter on Easter Sunday. Sorry about that! Technically because of my goof this chapter is a day late and on time at the same time. Chapter 11 will hopefully go up on Monday April 27, 2020 if all goes according to plan. If that changes you will find updates on the story's progress on my Tumblr blog TinyWritingBean. There is also a bunch of My Hero Academia stuff there!

* * *

"We think Mizuki's room was untouched, though we will need her to tell us if anything is missing." Detective Iwata slid Aizawa another photograph. This one was unsettling, though for entirely different reasons than the previous photos had been. The previous photos had been crime scene photos, some of the goriest he had seen in his career to date, and the knowledge that a seven-year-old had seen those things firsthand made them even worse. This photo was unsettling because it looked nothing like a child's room should.

There was a small cardboard box in one corner which seemed to have clothes in it, a pile of neatly folded blankets with a pillow and a small pile of books sitting next to it in another corner, a litter box, and an ancient laptop- one he recognized from when it used to sit in his father's study- sitting on the floor with two notebooks stacked neatly next to it. There was no furniture in the room nor were there any toys.

This wouldn't have been as unsettling as it was if he hadn't been shown the financial statements for his cousin's business before being shown these images. His cousin had money, maybe not a lot of it, but more than enough to provide for herself and her daughter- this wasn't a single mother who couldn't afford to provide for her daughter beyond providing her with a roof over her head and was doing her best. This was a woman who was abusing her child through purposeful neglect. The woman by Mizuki's own admission wasn't paying for her clothes, her food, or her school fees. If he were a betting man he would place money on the hunch that the medical treatment she received was being paid by some kind of victim fund set up by the courts after her uncle had been convicted or by one of the charities that helped children who had been victimized by villains. Nakamura Kasumi didn't do much for her daughter besides pay rent and utilities, and even that she had stolen from Mizuki to pay part of at some point, and somehow that didn't surprise Aizawa- even as it enraged him.

And that put the comment the kid had made about her mom promising to get her ice cream for being the top student in her year in a different light. It wasn't a mom being proud of her daughter, it was a mom giving a gift to a daughter she routinely abused- quite possibly to use as a twisted bribe. 'See Mom can be nice when you behave,' or maybe 'See Mom still loves you, violently murdering a clone was just an accident and I'm very sorry.' Aizawa wasn't sure he wanted to get far enough into her head to know what she was thinking.

"So, are you still planning on taking her there to pick up her things?" Aizawa pulled himself from his thoughts and put the photo down on the Detective's desk.

"I don't think taking her back there is going to be beneficial to her. I think it would be more logical to show her the photo of her room so she can identify anything that may be missing and then let her stay with the Midoriya's as my husband and I pack up whatever is left in the apartment."

"That should be fine. Saito-san, the person from Child Protective Services who is in charge of her case now, recommended suggesting that when I spoke with her this morning. She's supposed to be here in a few minutes, so you can speak with her about Nakamura-san's long-term placement before you leave the station. I will send you a copy of this photo so you can show Nakamura-san and let me know if she notices anything missing. In the meantime, if you want to go to Investigation Room 2 to wait for Saito-san?"

The police briefing had been significantly shorter than he had been expecting, and the amount of information given was less than he was used to. Which made sense in a way. He was usually approaching police briefings as a pro-hero who would be helping with the investigations. This time though he was just a relative of the victim, the only remaining adult relative of the victim who wasn't in prison serving a life sentence. The fact that they had shown him the crime scene photos at all given the circumstances was a little surprising. Was Detective Iwata trying to give him an idea of what Mizuki had seen or was she giving him more information than she would usually give to a victim's family member because he had worked on cases with her before? There was no way of knowing without asking the woman herself and he wasn't curious enough to ask just yet, especially as he had just been dismissed from her office and asked to wait in one of the rooms commonly used for questioning until the Saito-san came to the office. Maybe he would ask the detective when he met with her next, whenever that wound up being.

Aizawa found the case file he had been handed on Friday sitting on the table in the interrogation room with a note saying he was allowed to look through it. So the pro-hero read through more of the file as he waited for the social worker to show up, vaguely wishing he could do something to work through the growing sense of horror and rage that was building up, but assuming that would probably count as a point against him if the social worker came in while he was doing that. As much as he usually didn't care about other people's impressions of him, he knew that this meeting was important and that how he presented himself, both in action and in appearance, would be important. He had let Hizashi put his hair into a neat bun, made his hero uniform as presentable as possible, kept his emotions in check, and avoided his usual slouching or napping. Better to maintain the appearance of a serious pro-hero instead of being mistaken for a homeless, or worse violent, person.

He heard her approach long before she spoke, and even in the way the woman walked she sounded exhausted. She opened the door and stepped inside, she wasn't wearing the standard police uniform, nor did she hold herself the way cops usually did- immediately clueing him in to the fact that this was the woman he was supposed to be meeting. "Aizawa-san?"

"Yes." He stood and gave a respectful bow, "It is nice to meet you Saito-san."

The woman, who couldn't have been much older than he was, bowed back "It's nice to meet you as well Aizawa-san." Both of them moved to sit down at the table as Saito-san pulled out some papers. "So, the goal for today is to set up a long-term plan for Mizuki-chan's care. I have to apologize in advance though, I received her case file along with twelve others last week when her previous social worker retired, and she was labeled as a low risk case until her mother died unlike nine of the other cases I was given on top of my usual workload, so I am unfamiliar with some of the details." She opened one of the folders she had pulled out, "Detective Iwata has informed me that her case may have been mislabeled- which having seen photos of her room, and what I have read of her file so far I am inclined to agree with her."

"I also agree with Detective Iwata's assessment of her case. She's only lived with my husband and I for a day and a half and it is already apparent that her mother was severely neglecting her. Her neighbor, Midoriya Inko, also suspects sever neglect- including withholding of food, failure to provide adequate clothing, failure to provide even the most basic of emotional support, failure to provide school fees, amongst other issues."

The woman across the table from him sighed and looked even more tired than she had before. "In other words, we've failed this girl again because someone intentionally or unintentionally mislabeled her case." He nodded in response and watched as she took out a pen and started writing on a blank sheet of paper. "I will not let this happen again." Despite her exhaustion, she sounded determined.

"Good."

Once she finished writing she grabbed one of the files that were sitting on the table. "As you are the final remaining relative you have some say in what happens next. Japanese law encourages us to prioritize relatives and maintain family connections whenever possible, but we also try to make sure whoever gains custody of a child is a suitable guardian and we understand that not all blood relatives are willing or able to take care of the children of other family members."

"We would like to adopt Mizuki-chan." The woman looked a bit relieved as she handed him a file titled 'The Adoption of Orphaned Family Members'.

"Great! I will walk you through the basics of the process and we can set up a date and time for an initial home visit so I can make sure your home is a fit place for her to live and so I can meet and talk with her about the whole process!" The rest of the meeting passed quickly, and Aizawa found himself at home earlier than he had expected.

Aizawa helped Hizashi and Mizuki put away the groceries they had picked up when they got back and then they went to Hizashi's car. The tiny girl looked uncomfortable during the entire ride, but she remained quiet, listening to Hizashi sing along to some ridiculously upbeat pop song on the radio instead of talking about whatever was on her mind.

When the reached the door of the apartment building, she finally spoke up. "Aizawa-san, Yamada-san?"

"Yeah little listener?"

"I don't have to go into the apartment, right?"

"No, you don't have to go in there." Aizawa had gotten down on her level and placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'll need you to take a look at a picture of your room later so you can tell us if there is anything missing but you don't have to go inside. We can take you to the Midoriya's and you can spend time with them while we pack up your apartment." She bit her lip again and looked down at the ground but nodded. The dark-haired man decided to shift the subject a little bit, "I have a question for you before we go in there Mizuki-chan."

"Yes Aizawa-san?"

"Did you hide anything that you would like us to find and pack for you?" It was common for kids who have been neglected to hide the things they consider most important, and food, from their parents. She nodded vigorously.

"I hid a book, a box of CalorieMate bars, and some other snacks in the air vent in the wall near the floor of my room! We never use the A/C so it isn't blocking anything." She looked a little embarrassed but continued. "There is a screwdriver hidden in my box of clothes that can be used to remove the grate. It's wrapped in a pair of my socks."

"Is there anything else we need to find?" She shook her head no. "Alright, do you want to go visit Izuku then?" the girl nodded and waited until Momo-chan started heading up the stairs before heading up herself. Mizuki stared at the officer outside the door of her old apartment for a moment before fishing out her keys to the Midoriya apartment and using them to unlock the door. "Mizuki-chan is that you?"

"Yes Auntie Inko!"

"Great! Come on in and ask Aizawa-san and Yamada-san to come in with you."

"Okay Auntie Inko!" She walked through the door and traded her outdoor shoes for a pair of indoor slippers, waiting as the two men followed suit. Once they were fully inside Inko pulled Mizuki into a hug and sent her off to find Izuku.

"How did it go this morning," she asked in a whisper once the girl was gone.

"As well as could be expected. The police have some leads they are hunting down, and social services have put us on track to adopt her, though the process probably won't be completed for another year at least. We'll have custody of her for that entire time unless we are deemed unfit guardians for some reason." Aizawa replied in the same hushed tones.

"I got Mizuki-chan to open up a bit about school," Inko looked startled at that admission, and then nervous which put Aizawa on edge, but he decided to ask Hizashi more when they were packing things up.

"I don't care about Izuku-kun's status Midoriya-san, and I am sure that my husband won't either." The woman visibly relaxed. Hizashi started speaking in a louder tone, "Midoriya-san are you and your son free next Sunday? Shouta and I are planning a birthday party for Mizuki?"

"We are definitely free if that's what Mizuki wants to do!" the woman smiled, "I can make a birthday cake if you want!"

"That would be totally awesome!"

"If we host a birthday party for Izuku the week after would you be able to make that work?"

"Heck yeah, we can make it for the little listener's birthday party!"

"Speaking of birthdays," Inko's voice dropped again, "I already got Izuku and Mizuki's birthday present, but I need to clear it with you now since it would affect you." They spent a few minutes discussing it and working out the fine details of how they could still make it work, before deciding to get started on their plans for the afternoon. Inko took the children to the nearby park while Aizawa and Hizashi went back to the car to grab the two duffle bags they were going to use.

"Are you here to pick up the girl's stuff?" The officer asked them while standing in front of the door.

"Yes."

"Alright, we have taken away most of the bloody furniture and the carpets, but the apartment is still a bit disturbing. Please be prepared for that." The man stopped for a moment, assumedly to let that sink in. "We ask that you go straight to the girl's room and take her stuff and nothing else since this is still considered a crime scene and tampering with evidence could hinder the investigation. I will be accompanying you to show you which room you need and to make sure you don't find anything we may need for the case." Both men nodded their understanding and followed the police officer into the apartment.

The place smelled like a weird combination of blood and chemicals, both men were accustomed to the smell, but it was still off-putting. Hizashi seemed to pale seeing how much blood was on the walls of the living room and kitchen, "Oh gods Mizuki _saw it_."

"This crime scene was by far the worst one I've seen in my career." The police officer shuddered. "Come on this way. Her room is less gory at least."

They only needed one of the duffle bags and the leftover room in the cardboard box to pack everything up, including her hidden book (which they had to explain to the officer), snacks, and the blanket and pillow that sat in the corner of the room. They left the litterbox behind, figuring they had plenty at home. The pair was shepherded out the moment they finished packing and they sat in the car in silence for a few minutes. Aizawa waited, knowing that if his husband was being this quiet, he needed time to process his thoughts. But he wasn't expecting the first words out of Hizashi's mouth to be "Let's go find somewhere where we can buy her a bookshelf for those books she has. Give her a few more minutes to be a kid with her friend."

"We could let them keep playing after we go to the park."

"I know, I just," he was silent for another few moments before his hands started flying, a sure sign he was upset and worried about being unable to control his quirk. "She didn't even have a futon. How long has she been sleeping on the floor? Does she even own clothes that fit that Midoriya or the two of us didn't buy for her? Because even I can tell most of those clothes are too small for her. I grew up poor, I know what poverty looks like, but this isn't that. I never had to hide food from my parents or worry about what the food rules are or see the level of horror she has. None of that is even considering what she went through with her uncle," he trailed off mid-thought letting his hands fall to his sides for a moment before changing tracts.

"The kid doesn't even get a break at school because her classmates bully her for being friends with Izuku because he might be quirkless. And gods she's a good kid. She is protective and intelligent and sweet. She goes on about how she wants to be a hero or a doctor so she can help people. She will talk for ages about space and aliens and sci-fi if you let her. She's just a kid. She deserves so much better than everything she's been through." Hizashi leaned his head into Aizawa's shoulder and Aizawa pulled him into the best hug he could given the fact they were in a car. He ran a hand through his husband's blond hair as he waited a few minutes for Hizashi to be calm enough to speak again.

"Sorry about that. I just needed to process all of that. I haven't had to work a child abuse case yet since I'm mostly called in for villain fights and disasters, and our teachers were right, they're rough."

"Don't apologize. You needed that." Hizashi's face was still buried in his shoulder and Aizawa kept carding his hand through the blonde's hair the way he knew his husband found soothing.

"I did. But I know you need to do some processing too."

"I do because I am angry about all of this for all the same reasons you're upset and more. I read some of the testimony she gave against my cousin earlier today and what he did is the most sickening thing I have ever heard about. Part of me wants to kill him for what he's done. But I can't. I won't. I won't indulge in that fantasy. And somehow the fact that the girl's own mother treated her this way after Mizuki suffered through all of the terrible things she had feels even more evil." He shut his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, and counted backward from ten to release some of the building anger. "But for right now I need to turn that anger into constructive action because I don't have time to do what I need to do to process it fully and giving in to my anger doesn't help anyone. Myself included. I'll do some training tonight and that will help."

Hizashi looked up at him contemplatively for a moment before forcing himself to sit upright again and nod. "Alright, I'll make sure you get time to do that. But I was being serious about the whole bookshelf thing. I mean I did want to use it as time to calm down, but we did tell Midoriya-san we might be a while and that only took fifteen minutes. Might as well get that done while she's with them, right?"

* * *

Izuku and Mizuki almost always spend their time at the park doing their "hero training" and that day was no exception. Inko had found a bench and pulled out a book, content to let the children do their own thing, knowing that if anything happened, they would come to find her or Momo-chan would. When the pair had found a reasonably shaded and secluded spot under some trees, they both began their stretching routine. As they stretched, they threw ideas back and forth on what sort of training they'd do, eventually deciding to focus on speed and evasiveness.

"Alright Izukun! Do you want to be the hero or the villain first?"

"Hero!"

"You got it! Usual rules?"

"Yep!" The moment he turned around Mizuki bolted, not even waiting for him to begin his count. The rules of their hero vs villain game were simple- the hero would turn around and count to ten, giving the villain time to put some distance between them, and then the hero would have to catch the villain. The match ended when the hero either managed to grab the villain in a bear hug or five minutes passed without the villain being caught. If the villain or the hero touched someone not playing the game they lost. When playing the villain climbing trees was allowed, as was hiding, but typically the best strategy was to run and outmaneuver the opponent once they spotted your first hiding spot.

The two were fairly evenly matched, especially if they were playing for longer than half an hour. Izuku had a little bit of an edge when it came to speed, he was taller and had longer legs, he also was a bit better at analyzing the field and finding hiding spots. He would win the majority of the early matches. But Mizuki's stamina was better, and her smaller size gave her an edge when it came to evading so she would win the majority of the later matches.

They had been playing for about an hour when Izuku caught her by dropping out of a tree. "Another match or?" the boy panted out while holding a hand out to help her off the ground.

"I think we should switch to something else Izukun." She said, a less winded but still breathing heavily, as she took the hand and let him pull her up.

"Kata cooldown?"

"That works." They had only learned one of the Judo katas so far, so there was no question of which one they should work on. The two moved far enough apart that they wouldn't accidentally run into each other and began moving almost in sync. They began by going through the kata at a fast pace, then followed it up by going through it at a medium pace and then finished by going through it all twice at a slow pace. Mizuki had noticed when Aizawa showed up partway through their final run through of the kata but she resolved to finish before talking to him, not wanting to break concentration.

"You both did those last few moves wrong." Izuku jumped, obviously spooked, having not noticed the pro-hero.

Mizuki responded first. "We only learned the last few steps last week Aizawa-san. Could you show us how to do it? It'd be bad if we let our bad habits become muscle memory."

He nodded. "We have a few minutes before Midoriya-san and Hizashi will come looking for us." Aizawa spent the next ten minutes walking them through the correct forms and watched them both do it by themselves twice before he started moving them back towards Inko's park bench.

* * *

Author's note: The pace of this story will be picking up a bit after this chapter! I did not intend to spend this much time on a day and a half, heck I nearly did a spit take when I realized in fiction it hasn't even been 48 hours yet. Let me know what you think of the story so far! What do you like? What do you not like (please be constructive)? Thanks for reading! :)


End file.
